Fox Dens and Rabbit Trails: Rendez-Bleu
by Omnitrix 12
Summary: What do you get when Nick and Judy try to enjoy a day off with some old friends? Trouble! From Tundra Town to Sahara Square, an avalanche of chaos buries Zootopia's top cops. Expect surf, snow, and fluff as these two and some memorable OCs try to make it through their downtime. A day at the beach this isn't! Sequel to Santa Clawed and Christmas in Bunnyburrow.
1. Hot and Cold

A red fox-sized convertible rolled along an unidentified street, its AC circulating only the smells of the car itself (cleaning fluid, upholstery, and a couple of cold drinks). Music on the radio muffled any sounds from outside, preventing Taelia Fangaster from hearing indications of their whereabouts.

Of course, the blindfold didn't exactly help matters.

"Ah-ah-ahh, no taking it off," warned a smug voice as one of her paws involuntarily reached for a red cloth tied over her eyes. Another paw – and a rather strong one at that – caught her by the wrist and moved her paw decisively back to her lap. She was grateful that this particular kidnapping experience hadn't included being tied up, but if she wasn't allowed to move it really amounted to the same thing.

That is, it would have if not for the identity of her abductor.

"You know," she said with a tiny pinch of excitement creeping through her nervousness, "my dad used to warn me about riding in cars with strange guys."

The voice of her driver took on a fake-hurt tone. "Oh, come on now. Me? A stranger?"

"Stranger than anyone I know," she quipped back, quick as anything.

He sighed, and she could picture him shaking his head. Well, he _had_ walked right into that one. "You've been hanging out with Carrots way too long," he muttered. "I'd _think _you would trust me by now."

"After the incident in Tundra Town? Please."

"Hey, now, I pulled you out of the way of that toboggan."

"Right into a frozen pond, yes."

Taelia's 'kidnapper' was Nick Wilde, known to the world as the first-ever fox cop. To her, he was her longest running and most promising boyfriend to date… and a fox to be always trusted, but seldom believed.

Case in point: today he had invited her to a date at a small water park in the Rainforest District, promising to take care of refreshments and everything else. All she was to bring were a change of clothes, a swimsuit, a towel, and sandals. He hadn't explained the sandals, but had made a point of mentioning them.

That had been her first clue that something was off, but she was still taken by surprise when, once she was in his car, he bade her to hold still and then tied his old red neckerchief over her eyes. This was when he clued her in that she was being taken to a mystery date location, and that everything had been arranged already.

"Remind me again why I let you do this to me," she complained as she fumbled for the cup holder. When Nick had arrived he'd had fruit smoothies freshly prepared for the both of them, and she took a sip of mango orange key lime.

"Hmm…" he mused, making a "show" of thinking. "Was it maybe my devilish good looks?"

"Oh, that's funny," she quipped, tapping her blindfold pointedly. She took another sip and pondered the flavor like a wine expert. She couldn't really taste the orange, but the tartness of the lime and the sweetness of the mango did set each other off nicely. As long as she couldn't see, she might as well enjoy what she could taste. A sniff of the air led her to suspect that there was some shrimp with curry in the trunk, but she wasn't positive on that part.

Nick, with his eyes unencumbered, paused at a red light and took the opportunity to survey his date. Taelia wore a dark green breach dress with floral print, made of a very lightweight fabric as best he could tell. It hung to around her knees even when she sat in what was a typically modest fashion for her, though a slit creeping up to mid-thigh showed some flirt as well. She'd become somewhat bolder since that past Christmas, and he couldn't say he minded the change one little bit.

_Come to think of it…_

"Hey, you know how your parents always kiss when they stop at red lights?" he teased.

She made an annoyed face and flicked the back of her paw in the direction of his voice, almost but not quite reaching his face.

"I should have known better than to start giving you an inch," she quipped, trying unsuccessfully to sound offended.

He chuckled and moved along as the light turned green. "Okay, okay."

As they carried on, Taelia began brainstorming where they might be headed and what her sneaky boyfriend might have up his Pawaiian shirt sleeves. Nick was notorious for being one step ahead of just about everyone, but after dating him and sharing a flat with his partner in crime-solving, Judy Hopps, she had learned a few things about piecing together clues.

Having not even tried from the start, she didn't bother thinking about turns and corners. Some mammals could figure out where they were in a car blindfolded, but she wasn't one of them. Instead she concentrated on more immediate clues. His instructions on what to bring and how to dress were something of a hint. Assuming he hadn't conspired with Judy to have other clothes ready and surprise her with skiing – which he had done before, it was true – they would probably be going someplace warm and sunny.

It occurred to her that she might test the possibility of a switcheroo by prodding him with a deliberate wrong guess. "You're not taking me to that Mystic Springs place, are you?" she asked, somewhat accusingly.

Nick actually sounded slightly hurt by that. "Oh, now I wouldn't do that to you. You know that."

This was true. She and Nick did have their differing ideas of how fast to take a relationship, but he had always been a gentlemammal and willingly went at her pace of choice with minimal teasing. Taking her to a place like that – especially unawares – would be way out of character.

"Sorry," she backtracked. She did feel sorry for accusing that, even as a ploy, but she was still dying to know. His simple denial was no clue to speak of; 'Not even close' or something like that would have been much more suggestive – which he probably knew. There was nothing for it but a direct question. "So where are we going?"

His answer was as frustrating as it was predictable. "I'll tell you when we get there."

She groaned through clenched teeth, and could practically _feel_ his grin in her direction. It didn't help that she usually liked that grin, as annoying as it could be sometimes.

_It's a good thing for him I'm crazy about him,_ she thought, though she wouldn't have said it out loud. He probably already knew anyway. The fact that she was wearing a showier dress than usual, and the perfume she had on, were probably good clues, and if they weren't then he'd be sure to figure it out in a little while.

They continued to drive, she gleaning such clues as she could from the alternating intervals of light and shade. Short of putting a thick bag over her head or something, he couldn't deprive her of that bit of evidence.

After a while, she noticed that they seemed to go from light areas to shadier ones and back again every few minutes. At least, she guessed it was minutes, though it felt like hours.

"Are you taking us in circles just to drive me crazy?" she pressed.

The grin in his voice was so audible she had to resist the urge to smack him. "Maybe."

It took all her self-control not to groan. "Nick," she pressed, resisting the urge to use his full name as she'd heard Judy do a few times. She would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her go that far. "If you don't get us wherever we're going, you might want to update your Z-Harmony profile."

He laughed, clearly knowing a bluff when he heard one. "Okay, okay."

The car took a significant turn at the next intersection, and Nick drove them into a much sunnier area. By the way he slowed down, he was probably trying to find a place to park.

"Ah-ha, here we go," he announced, and she could feel the familiar movements of parallel parking. At last the gear shift thumped into place.

Before she could ask if it was time to lose the blindfold, Nick answered. "Don't get up. Oh, and hold your nose."

Pointlessly rolling her eyes, Taelia made a show of pinching her nose. She still wasn't sure where they were, but she was starting to think it might be Solar Splashdown, a water park that had been all over the news lately for switching entirely to green energy. It was the kind of place that could only work somewhere like Sahara Square, but it fit with what Nick had described. Besides, the park had a ton of eateries that would explain Nick's latest instruction.

The door opened, and he felt her reach across her to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"I could have done that," she pointed out as he guided her out of the door.

"I know," he admitted, slipping an arm around her middle, "but why pass up the chance to lean on you for a second?"

She blinked behind the cloth, then rolled her eyes. "Shameless flirt, extra corny on the side," she quipped. After about two years of dating, Nick had been starting to get rather bold. He wasn't doing anything perverse, but she was starting to wonder what his plans were.

"So when can I take this off?" she pressed.

"In a minute. In a minute." Keeping the one paw around her midsection, he walked her out across a paved surface. The heat smacked into her, not quite as badly as opening an oven, but still enough to make her glad she had dressed lightly that day.

"Watch your step, now," he advised as they went over a speed bump at an angle.

She huffed. "Okay, the sight jokes are kind of getting old now. Where are…?" She paused as the tang of salt air touched her tongue. She didn't need her nose to recognize it; they could only be one place.

"The beach," she announced as Nick guided her up onto a boardwalk. "I should have guessed."

Nick chuckled. "Not quite, but you're nine tenths of the way there."

Puzzling over this, Taelia only half-noticed as Nick guided her up a ramp and further along the planks. She was still trying to figure out where besides the beach she'd be smelling seawater when she felt him grasp the blindfold at both sides of her head. "Ta-da!"

At first Taelia couldn't really figure out what she was looking at once the blindfold came off – in part because a ray of blinding sunlight chose that instant to smack her right in the face. "Ow!" she cried, throwing up her paws.

The radiance was crazy, and Nick hastily plucked the sunglasses from her shirt collar to put them on her face. "Sorry! Forgot about that."

The snatch was so quick and light that Taelia didn't even notice where he'd plucked them from. Blinking several times and shading her eyes with a paw, she managed to get a better look at…

Water. The two of them were gazing out over a massive stretch of water, much occupied with boats, jetskis, and all manner of other water sports craft.

"Okay, still not sure where we are," she admitted.

Nick chuckled. "Well, sweetheart, turn around and see."

Taelia turned, and her jaw fairly dropped as she took in a row of towering buildings mostly comprised of sandstone. Neon signs showed in every window, trees lined the paths, and all manner of wares were on display. Food, clothes, beach toys, and novelty goods jockeyed for space with advertisements for movies, public events, parasailing tours, and just about everything else you could hope to find on the waterfront.

When the whole scene clicked into place, Taelia's mouth fell open. "Golden Sands Waterfront?"

"The one and only," he announced with pride.

Taelia didn't know what to say. "Nick, how did you even afford this? Just parking around here for a day costs a week's pay easy for most mammals."

Nick chuckled and patted her between the shoulder blades, then let his paw slide down to just above her tail. "Eh, I called in a few favors."

She turned to him, half in admiration and half in worry. "Please tell me you didn't blackmail anyone."

The way he shrugged and smirked could have just as easily been an effort to cover guilt with mock innocence or an act of innocence passing as mock guilt. "Okay. I didn't."

Taelia resisted the urge to groan, even through a genuine smile. "Okay, now were you telling the truth or just saying what I said to say?"

"You'll never know," he answered brightly. "Now let's go. We've got an appointment down at the docks in about an hour. Until then, let's have a look around."

Heading off along the store fronts following Nick's lead, it occurred to Taelia to wonder what Judy was up to at the moment. The doe had said something about plans, but hadn't said what.

* * *

"_Brr-OOO-oo-oo-oo-ot!"_

Judy drew back slightly, her smile unabated as her lapine companion snapped down his ears and clapped his paws over them. Then, more out of sympathy than actual discomfort, she clapped her paws over her ears too when the elephant responsible for the first blast let loose again.

"I'd forgotten how noisy these parades could get," her friend uttered.

Chuckling, Judy patted him on the back. Shamus Stampett – an old childhood friend of hers – had asked her if she wanted to hang out at this event, but didn't seem to be enjoying it quite as much as she. This didn't surprise her overmuch; Shamus had always been on the quiet, reserved side. His withdrawn nature matched his somewhat woebegone looks, particularly the rusty orange-brown splotch around his right eye that looked as if he had fallen on a piece of fruit or something. Despite that, he managed to smile and assure her all was well whenever she suggested going somewhere else, so she had stopped asking.

As the float bearing the elephant passed, another trundled by bearing a troop of walruses. The parade was some sort of local holiday celebrating the establishment of a trade and water usage deal with the marine occupants of Polar Strait. With this kind of others-mindedness at its heart, it was no wonder that the float in question bore loudspeakers playing a song about 'giving more than you take,' or that the pinnipeds on board were liberally tossing out various treats to the crowd.

Of course, treats were in the taste of the beholder. When they caught a couple of the flying packages, they found themselves in for a slight surprise.

"Uh… oh," Judy uttered, seeing that hers was a package of Gummy Grubs… loaded, according to the package's boast, with real grub flavor.

Shamus chuckled awkwardly at the sight of his pack. "Want to trade?" he asked jokingly, turning it around to reveal a bag of seafood medley flavored crackers.

"I'll trade!" exclaimed an eager voice behind them. They turned to find themselves eye to eye with a half-grown arctic fox. He was holding a package of pressed kelp.

"Yeah, sure," Judy affirmed, handing over her gummy grubs.

Shamus glanced at the kelp and shrugged. "Ehh, two for one. Here you go."

The kit gladly accepted both packs in trade for his own and scampered off.

"That was nice of you," Judy approved.

The buck shrugged. "Well, I'm on a diet anyway. Doc said to cut back on the fish."

She chuckled more as an act of kindness than out of actual humor and shook her head. Then her eyes popped when she saw who was on the next float. "OMgoodness!" she jabbered out, paws flying up to her mouth. "I can't believe she came!"

Shamus turned his head to see a float coming along, guarded ahead by two long cars mounted by mammals bearing what looked like shuffleboard poles to nudge excited members of the crowd back. The precaution was unsurprising. On the float behind them stood none other than…

"Gazelle!" Judy cried.

The singer stood in company with her trademark tiger dancers, who on this occasion were wearing trim black suits with sky-blue carnations in the buttonholes. Gazelle herself wore a blue and silver outfit which was surprisingly form-fitting for the setting, though a coating of blue and silver feathers did some to hide her shape. Longer plumes stuck into her hair and hung around her waist swayed and bobbed with her every move – and boy was she busting some good ones. She sang out in full angelic style, drawing an echo from the crowd and a wave in her wake as those behind surged to stay with her float.

Shamus looked on, tapping his foot and lightly clapping his paws appreciatively to the beat as Judy jumped and pumped her fists. Truth be told, he was a little surprised she didn't press him to some further activity until he remembered that she knew of his condition. He'd only told her that past December, and given how intermittently they got to actually meet it was still hard to remember that sometimes.

"Oh, Judy! Hii!"

Any further ruminations on Shamus' part were disrupted by a high-pitched voice behind and above them. Turning around, he nearly jumped out of his skin – despite a jolt of pain in his left leg – at the sight of a massive polar bear kneeling down in front of them. A small gazebo-like structure was affixed to one of the ursine's shoulders, and in his paws he held the source of the voice.

"Fru-Fru!" cried Judy next to them, all but forgetting the celebrity singer still passing on her mobile stage.

As the paws came down, Shamus finally got a view of the mammal in question: a small Arctic shrew grasping the paw of a much smaller infant. Both wore matching green dresses, and a pack of Gummy Grubs sat close at hand looking – in relation to the microfauna – more like one of the rescue cushions firefighters would place outside high rises.

As excited as she was to see an obvious friend, Judy didn't hesitate to tend her duties as a mutual acquaintance. "Oh, Shamus, meet Fru-Fru – her dad runs Tundratown Limo – and Judy, my goddaughter. Fru-Fru, this is Shamus Stampett, a friend of mine."

Seeing Fru-Fru stick out a paw to shake, Shamus extended the claw of his smallest finger. Little Judy, taking it with both, shook with surprising vigor. Shamus said little besides "Charmed," however, evidently wanting to leave the dialogue mostly to Judy.

Little Judy quickly made him wish he hadn't held his peace. "Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, turning her face to Judy and her thumb toward Shamus.

"Uh, no," Judy countered with the practiced air of someone who was used to defusing awkward questions. "No, we just met up for the parade."

Fru-Fru eyed Shamus thoughtfully. "Too bad. He seems nice."

Judy chuckled, if somewhat awkwardly. Shamus absolutely blanched.

"Uh, no," Judy corrected, waving her paws. "We're not together. Well, not romantically. We just met up for the parade."

"Yeah," Shamus agreed in haste. He seemed a bit discombobulated by the implication, but he amply made up in emphasis what he lacked in coherence. "We're not… I mean, we're _definitely_ not… we're just friends."

Judy cleared her throat and considered adding for clarity's sake that they had only decided to tag up since they happened to have the same day off. She thought better of it, knowing that trying too hard to look innocent would only make them look more guilty.

"Where's your husband?" she asked, looking up towards the little structure in search of the other shrew as well as a change of topic.

"Oh, he's managing one of the floats," she explained. "Henry likes to be in the thick of things, you know."

The diversion worked perfectly, throwing Fru-Fru off onto other topics completely. After a long schpiel about this, that, and the other thing, Fru-Fru returned the conversation to her listeners by way of inviting them to the party she was hosting later.

"It's gonna be the biggest party in Tundra Town," she boasted, clearly in full hard sell mode. "We've rented out the Iceberg Lounge, and the guest list has all the big names in the city."

Shamus thought he might choke. Judy, evidently catching his expression, started to bow out. "Actually, we're not really-"

"Don't worry about a dress," Little Judy added with the impetuosity common to small children. "Mommy keeps some for you at home, remember?"

Under Shamus' puzzled gaze, Judy cleared her throat while Fru-Fru chided her progeny for interrupting. "Well, I actually had plans with Shamus, and I think he'd be a bit uncomfortable."

Fru-Fru studied him. "Well, it is short notice, but I'm sure we could get him something to wear."

Partially tired of being talked over, and partially feeling he should help Judy out, Shamus broke in. "Uh, what Judy's trying to say – or not say, I guess – is that _I_ have, uh, trouble with large crowds of strangers. It, uh, must have been something that happened a long time ago. This parade is about my limit for one day – but I really appreciate the offer."

Fru-Fru looked crestfallen. "Aww, poor dear. Well, I guess if you can't you can't. You owe me next time, though, Judy."

Judy nodded and promised she'd come to the next party she could. Then, helped by the arrival of Henry's float, the two rabbits made their escape as discreetly as they could.

"Is she always like that?" asked Shamus.

Judy shrugged and smiled. "She's really nice when you get to know her, but… yeah, she can get a bit pushy sometimes. And she really loves parties."

"No kidding," he remarked with dry humor.

As the parade died down, Judy noticed Shamus' posture beginning to lower a bit; not exactly sagging, but definitely not as tight as it had been. It took her a minute to decipher the reason.

"Wait a minute. Were you serious about the crowds thing?"

Shamus raised a fist to his mouth and coughed. "No, I'm fine there." Then, hesitating a bit, he added, "but my leg is starting to act up. I think I'll go sit down for a while."

Judy followed, not sure how worried to be although her police instincts kept her braced. Shamus hadn't told her just how bad his leg injury was, but any rabbit with less than their natural agility was at something of a risk in a city where so much of the population could step on them without knowing it. Despite her concern, Shamus waved her off when she offered to help.

"No. Thanks, but I'm okay. Thanks for sticking around, though."

She shrugged, eased to see him getting along better. "What are friends for?"

Half-hobbling, he led the way to a nearby coffee shop where they found a quiet corner booth and sat down. Shamus ordered them a couple of 'Firesides,' which turned out to be a dark-roasted blend with tones of chocolate and spices, and the two sat sipping for a while.

"I guess it's only fair to admit I wasn't totally honest," Shamus admitted when the coffees were about half-gone. In answer to her quizzical look, he added, "I kinda lied about the crowds thing. I actually was getting close to my limits."

She frowned, partially at the unexpected appearance of this news and partially because most rabbits didn't tend to have problems with crowds. True, Shamus had always been a bit of a loner, but she'd thought that was because hardly anyone liked to do the things he liked best.

"Then why did you go to the parade?" she asked, not voicing her real question: _'Why did you ask me to come to the parade?'_

Shamus shrugged helplessly. "Well, only dead fish swim with the current," he reasoned. Seeing that this had little impact, he elaborated. "My doctor's been saying I need to get out more. Besides, I thought you'd like it and we've hardly talked in forever."

Wrapping both paws around her drink, she thought about this answer. On the one paw, it made sense from what she knew had happened to Shamus in the time that they'd been separate. After a leg injury, breathtaking dad problems, and a bout with cancer that nearly killed him, he had almost done the cancer's job for it and ended himself. All that had stopped him was seeing a news article about her and realizing that she, at least, would be sorry to see him go. That nigh-ancient friendship, as crazy as it seemed, had been enough to turn him around, and at present his cancer was on the retreat if not quite in remission. A diagnosis of getting a little more fresh air and seeing some new sights made sense when she looked at it that way.

On the other paw, it also sounded suspiciously like an excuse to spend time with her, and as great of a guy as he was she didn't know if she liked him _that _way. The past Christmas had been the first time they'd communicated at all in about a decade, and since then they'd had maybe a couple of chats online and one or two odd texting conversations. Suddenly meeting out of the blue – especially to do something he'd just admitted to doing because he thought she'd like it even if he didn't… well, that _was_ kind of fishy.

**And there you have it. Nick and Taelia are off for a day at the beach, but I have a feeling it's not going to go as planned. And what's up with Shamus? Is he really just trying to have a good time with an old friend, or are Judy's suspicions justified?**

**It may help the reader a bit to know some context – or lack thereof – tied into this story. I got the idea to have Nick and Taelia go scuba diving while writing **_**Santa Clawed,**_** in which Nick claims that he and Taelia (respectively playing Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claws) do so in their free time. Thus, this story may be regarded as a sequel to **_**Santa Clawed.**_** However, since **_**Fox Dens and Rabbit Trails**_** is more of a collection than a proper series, I have tried to write it so that it may be read before **_**Santa Clawed **_**or its predecessor, **_**Christmas in Bunnyburrow**_** without any particular loss. I still recommend reading **_**Santa Clawed **_**at least, and/or **_**Sing Me to Sleep,**_** but if you want to just jump to the fun in the sun the worst that can happen is you'll wonder "where'd this other rabbit come from?"**

**When I first set out to write **_**Rendez-Bleu**_** (as I was still working on **_**Santa Clawed)**_**, I was somewhat dissatisfied that Judy seemed to have no place in it. This was amplified by the fact that I was still working on **_**Something Stinks,**_** where I also felt as though Judy needed more stage presence. I cannot recall just which chapters of either work I was writing at the time, so I can't say now how accurate that proved to be in the long run. However, at the time I consoled myself with the encouraging feedback on Nick and Taelia's chemistry, and the knowledge that writers must always give their projects some wiggle room on how and where to develop. I'm pleased to say that a last-minute inspiration for **_**Santa Clawed,**_** and the prequel to **_**Something Stinks **_**(**_**Sing me to Sleep**_**), allowed me to give Judy a rather significant role in this story. Thus readers will get to see her doing what she does best, side-by-side with the initially planned plot of Nick and Taelia going on a date destined to end in chaos.**


	2. Guessing Games

**Back again. Sorry for the long delay. Among other things, I was tied up with winterization (still technically not quite done there) and editing a comic loosely based on this story – or Nick and Taelia's half of it at least. It's drawn by Elimmc, and if you look on DeviantArt you can find it in my gallery. I go by DragonTamer2000 on there and would love to know what you think of it.**

**Also, we are back to the traditional Easter Egg hunt! This chapter has a couple in it, so see how many you can find.**

Nick was hardly what one would call a cheap date, but one thing he had learned to appreciate about Taelia was her frugal pragmatism when it came to window shopping. Rather than make impulsive purchases, she would snap pictures with her phone when a potential buy caught her attention. Then, when she had down time, she would flip through her photos and debate whether the things she wanted actually suited her lifestyle or were the best deals she could get.

Of course, if one noted the right cues (as Nick did), Taelia didn't do this without some longing or difficulty. She couldn't help thinking that some of the driftwood sculptures, fantasy figurines, and other novelty items on display in the stores they browsed would add some nice life to her apartment. It was the food, though, that really drove her half-crazy. All along the street her mouth watered at the smells wafting from coffee shops, fudge stores, ice cream shops, gourmet restaurants, and even a candy store.

"Okay, how old are you?" Nick teased when she hovered by this last, nose in the air and eyes closed in heavenly rapture.

She laughed, embarrassed at having been caught. "Okay, so I have a sweet tooth. It's a guilty pleasure."

Nick shook his head, and after a while longer broke down and got them both some sushi from an open-air cart run by a camel.

"Dinner and a show," he boasted as the ungulate's knives flew through the air, occasionally doing a toss-spin-and-catch trick like a circus juggler. Fish, seaweed, and an array of other ingredients seemed to split of their own accord and dance around the cutting board on the cart's top, assembling as if in a stop-motion video into neat little rice-packed portions. Almost too soon for the quality of the show, the camel gathered up the goodies and set them neatly into a platter, each as minutely fashioned as if it had been made in a factory.

"You've gotten faster, Marco," Nick commended, paying him and taking the platter. Taelia fished in her purse and pulled out some change by way of a tip, and the camel saluted them cheerfully as they headed off with their snack pack.

The dining experience was like nothing Taelia had ever experienced, though she felt inclined to liken it to a box of chocolates. The sushi all looked so similar, but each one had its own particular flavor quality. Her nose, of course, said they were all delicious.

"I never could see the fascination with squid," Nick confessed, sampling a piece of salmon sushi while Taelia – having just ingested the aforementioned kind – surveyed the assortment.

"It's not that bad, actually," she answered, picking up a piece filled with crab. "It tastes pretty much like regular fish, only it's a bit more rubbery."

He surveyed the options and picked one out, shrugging. "Different strokes for different folks, I guess," he allowed agreeably. Popping the treat into his maw, he chewed, then made a show of swallowing hard and gagging. "Oh, yuck. That was a bad call."

"Why, what was it?" she asked, puzzled.

Nick hung his tongue out in an exaggerated manner. "Tofu."

She snorted and elbowed him. "There's no tofu on this plate. I'd have smelled it a mile away."

He opened his eyes to look at her for a moment, tongue still hanging like a banner off the side of a building. Then he drew it back in and sighed. "See, that's the problem with dating a foodie."

Giggling, Taelia reached out and pinched his cheek. "Oh, but you're so cute when you try."

He pulled back. "Hey, hey, what is it with females and pinching my face? You, Carrots, my mom…" he thought about mentioning that some of his past dates had done it too, but decided against it. He also refrained from mentioning that there were a lot of adjectives he really preferred over 'cute.' Was he used to it? Yes, yes he was. Still, he would have rather that she'd said 'funny' or something like that.

Aware of only the question at paw, Taelia shrugged and plucked up a piece of shrimp sushi. "Well, maybe your face is just that irresistible."

Nick shook his head and glanced around, leading Taelia to wonder what he was looking for until she remembered the mention of an appointment earlier. Looking around herself, she spotted a large bronze sun dial set on the ground as a landscape feature. Such a fixture would have been unusual in other parts of the city, but here it fit in perfectly with the landscape.

"It's about half past ten, if that dial's right," she pointed.

This visibly satisfied Nick. "Oh, good, then we've got time."

Naturally, she began to grow curious about what he had up his sleeve. "So, what exactly is that appointment you mentioned bef-?" she started to ask before a voice broke in.

"Nicky!" cried an excited female tone.

Nick's head whipped toward the sound, and his ears dropped. "And now it's awkward," he groaned.

Taelia followed his gaze to see a female Fennec fox coming their way, wearing – barely – the most tastelessly skimpy bikini she'd ever seen. The smaller fox had her eyes locked on Nick, save for when she cast a less-than-pleasant look at Taelia.

_Oh, like I'm the one crashing _her _date,_ Taelia thought.

The interloper nimbly jumped up onto a chair next to Nick and leaned on the table, cocking her hip to show her swimsuit at full advantage. "How's my favorite tod?" she asked in a peculiar tone which made one think of preppy obnoxious high schoolers prone to giggling and flirting way too much. Her smile was so overly sweet Taelia half-expected her teeth to start decaying then and there.

"Uh, doing fine," Nick replied, acting as indifferent towards her as he could without being obviously rude. "Let's see, Roxeanne, right?"

She let out a huff. "Nicky, you know me. Rosita Chiquita Juanita Chihowlau, remember?"

Nick made a show of dawning recognition. "Oh, yeah. Well, Rosie, this is Taelia Fangaster, my _girlfriend._"

"Oh, is that right?" asked Rosita, glancing toward Taelia before resuming her flirtation as if she and Nick were the only ones on the planet. "Do you like my swimsuit? It's new."

Taelia was tempted to give this vixen a piece of her mind, especially since it sure seemed like Rosie needed all she could get. Experience with Nick, however, told her that he had the matter in paw. Her hopes were not in vain.

"Very nice. It reminds me of the one you wore at the pool party that time."

Rosie's smarmy demeanor faltered. "Pool party?" she echoed.

Nick snickered. "Yeah, remember sophomore year? We were at Flash's house and you spent fifteen minutes showing off your getup before you realized you had dripped chocolate ice cream all over-"

The female Fennec's face flashed with horror. "Nick!" she shrieked, abandoning pet names. "You promised never to mention that!"

"Oh, come on," he laughed. "You've had enough time to get over it. Funny is funny, right?"

She looked about ready to swat him into next week. "Oh, you are so insensitive!" she snapped, walking off in a huff. "Thanks for reminding me why I broke up with you!"

'_Insensitive,'_ thought Taelia. _Now _there's_ the pot calling the kettle black._

Nick glanced down at his watch. "How about that," he uttered casually. "Just lost a girl in only twenty-seven seconds. Personal best."

Taelia snickered. "You weren't really timing yourself, were you?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

She shook her head and surveyed the sushi, picking up another one. "So, what's the story there, or don't I want to know?"

"Nothing much to tell. I was stupid in high school; that's all."

She eyed him thoughtfully, then looked after Rosie. It was hardly the first reminder she'd gotten that she didn't know much about Nick's romantic history, and she had a sneaking suspicion she'd run into others down the road. She trusted him not to two-time on her, but there were times when she questioned if he was maybe secretly comparing her to other females he'd known.

Then she shook off the thought. Rosie was a flake who didn't know how to let go. There was no competition as far as she was concerned, which worked well since Taelia had never seen herself as the competitive type. Like her mother always said, any male who couldn't be trusted around other females wasn't worth the headaches. It was true that Judy had promised to trounce Nick if he broke faith, but as far as the vixen was concerned, he didn't need supervision.

"Hello? Taelia, are you home?"

She blinked and shook her head, realizing that she had zoned out for a minute. "Sorry, what?"

He raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "I was saying if you've done all the window shopping you want, maybe we should check out the boardwalk?"

Taelia thought the matter over and shrugged. The stores around here had some nice things, but in the end it was mostly novelty stuff she didn't really need and beach products she could get for half the price someplace else.

"Boardwalk," she answered decisively, snaring the last bite of sushi.

Nick smiled in a way that told her he had something up his Hawaiian-print sleeve, then picked up her beach bag and headed off toward the waterfront.

The boardwalks along Sahara Square had a handy arrangement of architecture. Built into the railings for the megafauna-sized sidewalks, a series of raised wooden walkways ran along from one steel and cement post to the next. For reasons of strength and climbing distance, the smallest pathways were the lowest down.

Reaching the nearest pillar, Nick readily ascended the metal half-circles set in its side to serve as ladder rungs. Then when Taelia caught up, he reached down to give her a pull up to the walkway.

"Would madame care for a parasol?" called a passing nanny goat, toting a golf-style bag full of umbrellas. She slightly waved one she held in her hoof, bright red with a pattern of dragons twisting in and out of hibiscus blossoms. "Hoof-made with real bamboo frames and rugged cotton, each one unique, and the tops come off and go in the washer. That's a new feature."

Taelia made it a rule to avoid buying in tourist districts, but she had a bit of a soft spot for street vendors. Besides, the sunlight up here was pretty glaring. She reached for the bag which still hung on Nick's arm, but he threw her a knowing smile.

"How much?" he asked the goat.

She considered the two of them, then set down her bag and rummaged in it a moment, producing for her efforts a half-dozen fox-sized sun umbrellas. "For ones in your size, fifteen dollars."

Nick hummed thoughtfully. "Ten," he counter-offered.

The goat looked offended. "Ten?" she protested. "They'd charge more in Walrus-Mart, and I make these myself all winter!"

"Okay, thirteen," he budged slightly.

Taelia had a feeling Nick knew better than she did whether the goat's stricken look was real or not, but she slipped her paw into the beach bag and pulled out a wallet. "Fifteen's fine," she said, fishing out some bills and handing them to the goat. Then, feeling a bit apologetic for Nick's haggling, she pointed to the sturdiest-looking one and added another single. She didn't know street vendors, but she'd shopped enough tag sales to know good merchandise when she saw it.

The nanny goat smiled and accepted the money, slipping back the extra pay with the parasol. "Him I would charge the extra," she whispered, pointing to Nick.

As the two foxes went on their way, Nick shook his head. "I could have gotten you a better deal," he protested.

"I didn't come here for sales," she argued, popping open the parasol and enjoying the way the light filtered through the patterned fabric. "I came here to enjoy myself, and I've been wanting one of these anyway."

He just shook his head. "Just don't go into marketing. By the way, can I have my wallet back now?"

"Your wallet? This is my-" she stopped when she realized that the wallet in her paw was indeed not hers. She used one made of anaconda skin, but this one was definitely alligator.

"I put it in the bag as I was getting set to go up the ladder," he explained.

Taelia blushed under her fur. Of all the ways she'd managed to embarrass herself in her life, pick-pocketing her own boyfriend was definitely a first. "Sorry," she fumbled, hastily digging in her bag for her own wallet. "Let me fix that."

Nick waved a paw. "Eh, don't worry about it. Call it a gift." Then to bar further debate, he shifted the bag from one paw to the other. "Mind holding this for a second?"

"Sure," she agreed, taking back the bag, "but why… do you ask?"

The last part of the question was pretty academic, given that Nick was in the process of unbuttoning his shirt. He paused to regard her in confusion. "Problem?"

Taelia shook her head. "No, nothing," she replied, making a deliberate effort not to speak too quickly. She'd never seen Nick without a shirt on, but she'd known – or at least strongly guessed – that a date based around swimming would involve that. For that matter, she'd been all but counting on showing some more of herself too. She'd just kind of figured it would be done down by the water.

On the other paw, if it was a given that they'd be shedding some layers, why drag it out?

As she debated the matter inwardly, Nick finished removing his shirt. Throwing his towel back over his shoulders, he looked about and realized he'd neglected to bring a beach bag of his own. "Uh, you mind?"

"No, go ahead." She handed him the bag, then quickly set aside the umbrella and started unbuttoning her beach dress down the front before she could change her mind. "You're the one carrying it anyway."

Nick took the bag back, making a modest effort not to look on too obviously as Taelia opened her dress down to her waist and glanced at him. He, trying to be a reynard about it, cleared his throat and turned his gaze in another direction.

For the first time since she could remember, Taelia found herself slightly annoyed at that kind of reaction. Resisting the urge to point out that she _had_ picked her clothes with his attention in mind, she slipped the garment free of her shoulders and slipped it down to her feet. Stooping to pick it up, she looked back at Nick.

"So... what do you think?"

Nick looked toward her and did his best not to stare as she turned in a circle. He had known that she was in pretty good shape, and could hardly be faulted for reflecting on that when he decided to take her to the beach. The shape now on display, though, far a it was from what he'd imagined, made for a pretty epic eyeful.

It was technically a one-piece suit, which Nick had pretty much taken for granted knowing her. Nor were the colors – purple and turquoise in various shades – at all unusual on his lady friend. However, in a notable departure from her usual style, it had oval cutaways just above her hips and a couple of smaller holes just to the inside of them accented by wavy sky-blue stripes. What immediately caught the eye, though, was an opening shaped like a large upside-down teardrop, starting just above her sternum and tapering to a point a little below her navel. It was hardly the _showiest_ swimsuit Nick had ever seen, but for someone who hardly ever wore even so little as a miniskirt on dates it might as well have been.

Fortunately, the bathing suit offered something else for him to latch onto besides how much fur it showed. As Taelia turned her back to him, the back revealed a large patch of oddly colored fur. He wasn't terribly surprised, having seen such markings before. This one, however, was so distinctly shaped that it could have been the reason creatures so marked were called cross foxes. There was a distinct line running down the center of her back from about the nape of her neck to where the suit covered just above her tail, and another one running levelly across her shoulders.

He scrunched his face. "Uh, is that a dye job?" he asked.

Coming back around, she stared at him for a moment and then frowned in mild annoyance. "I was asking about what I'm wearing," she corrected. Then, rubbing the back of her neck, she added, "And no, actually, the mark's natural. Runs in my family."

"Hm." Considering the marking itself for a moment, Nick let himself drift back to the bathing suit. This was definitely a side of her he'd never seen, but hey, who was he to complain? "I like it," he said at last, speaking to both points.

She hugged herself bashfully, her tail drifting around to obscure her legs. She glanced at the dress, then gave her head a slight shake and put it in the bag as if worried she might change her mind. Nick observed her actions and demeanor, debating whether or not to comment on her evident ambivalence.

"Good," she said at last, like someone releasing a breath they had been holding but trying not to be obvious about it. It was hard to tell if she had just taken a load off her mind or just taken one on, but whichever it was she retrieved her umbrella and propped it over her shoulder. "So, where to?"

Nick glanced up and down the walkway, then pointed an index claw. "That way's got nicer scenery."

As they continued their stroll, Nick couldn't _quite_ resist stealing a glance here and there at Taelia. It was hard to tell whether the suit made her or she made the suit, but it definitely showed to better advantage the results of her semi-regular biking and jogging. When she did catch him looking, he hastily offered her his elbow by way of a cover-up.

"You know, Judy _said_ you'd flip for this swimsuit," she remarked, looping her own arm through the extended limb and warming slightly in her tone.

He met her eyes with a smile. "Smart bunny," he conceded. He might have said something else charming, but at that moment he caught an incoming hazard in his peripheral vision. "Say, you mind if I…?"

Without finishing the question, he plucked the parasol from Taelia's paw and held it out, barring their view of the water for just one moment. Taelia's question at this sudden antic died on her lips as a thundering _sploosh_ of water slammed against the fabric, spattering around them before it ebbed.

"Aw, come on!" called a voice as Nick moved the parasol aside and spun it to shed the water. That was when Taelia observed the passing boat, full of adolescent pachyderms. One young elephant's trunk was still dripping with water, and it was he who had just shouted the complaint.

Taelia wasn't sure whether to admire Nick's adroitness or facepaw at the nerve of the guy, but Nick seemed to take the whole thing in stride.

"Here you go," he smiled, handing back the impromptu shield with a winsome smile. "Best thirteen I ever spent."

She took it, her mood meanwhile shifting towards admiration. All the same, she kept the parasol sideways and spun it occasionally until it was thoroughly dry.

"So, where are we going again?" she asked, eager to focus on something besides the pachyderm's prank.

Nick flicked his eyes to her, then heavenward as if debating whether to tell her. Inwardly, she debated whether to charm the answer out of him or try a more aggressive approach before deciding on a blend.

Adopting her most winsome smile, she told him as disarmingly as possible, "If you blindfold me again I'll bite you."

He raised an eyebrow at the curious blend of charm and playful threatening, then decided he'd tortured his girlfriend enough for the moment… almost. "Okay, I guess we can head over there early."

"Head over where?" she pressed as they changed direction.

Nick grinned. "Let's just say you'll be making the most of your exercise," he teased.

"Nick…"

"You'll love it. Trust me." He clasped her paw, which had slipped into his, a little tighter in an effort to reassure.

She sighed. "I trust you, Nick, but can we limit it to one surprise destination a day? The car ride just about drove me crazy."

He considered the offer. "Two," he haggled. "And I'll save the second for later."

She thought it over. "Okay, deal. So where are we going?"

His grin could have charmed a bear away from her cubs. "Ever try surfing?"

* * *

Back at the coffee shop, Judy and Shamus had fallen into conversation about various topics. He asked about her police work; what it was like being a cop, whether there was as much red tape as they said, and if she'd had any particularly memorable cases of late. This led to a conversation about a recently wrapped-up case in which a young bongo had actually faked her own kidnapping in a bid to get her parents' attention. This last put a somber look on Shamus' face, erasing the contented interest which had been there before.

"Heard about that on the news. Must be pretty messed up if she had to go that far," he remarked quietly.

Judy shrugged. It was true. Being a police officer gave her the chance to do a lot of good, but it also gave her front row seats to some pretty ridiculous and even disturbing things.

All things considered, it seemed like as good a time to switch gears. "So, what are you doing these days?" she asked more brightly. "I don't think you've ever mentioned what you do for a living now."

He shrugged. "Oh, odd jobs here and there. Mostly mechanical work and building maintenance."

Judy nodded politely and stifled a wince. When they had reconnected at her family's farmstead that past Christmas, he had mentioned that an accident while working on a tractor was what had nearly destroyed his life in the first place. Not only had it almost killed him and left him permanently damaged, but as she recalled his life-long dream – stunt athlete – would have also been smashed to bits in that nightmarish fiasco.

Oddly enough, for all that he'd lost Shamus seemed to be much less bothered than she would have guessed. He simply shrugged. "Yeah, pretty ironic, huh?" he asked as if losing his life's dream were no big deal. "It's not bad work, though. I've gotten pretty good at it, and when the daily grind starts to wear on me I go volunteer at a few places."

"Hm?" That interested her a bit. "What kind of work?"

"Oh, odd jobs," he answered offhandedly, glancing at his paws. "Mostly the kinds of things I do professionally and a bit of janitorial work."

Judy couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed at that – and at the fact that he seemed to accept it so readily. Shamus had always been so gung-ho about his dreams. The passion he brought to his practice had been one of the reasons they were such good friends when they were younger. Now it seemed like that had all gone out the window.

At that moment a voice broke in, deep but amicable.

"Shamus Stampett, is that you?"

Shamus' ears flicked up like someone had put a live wire to his tail, and he abruptly straightened like a veteran hearing the voice of his old sergeant. He turned with Judy to see a nattily dressed caribou who had stopped just below them.

"Oh, Doctor Donder," greeted Shamus, somewhat taken aback. "Didn't expect to see you here."

The reindeer frowned. "You were the one who told me about the spiced lattes here – and I've told you before, just call me Phillip."

For a moment the part about lattes seemed to be news to Shamus, but then he nodded. "Oh, yeah," he assented, adding more quietly, "I'm just not used to anyone taking my advice."

The good doctor, having explained his presence, turned to Judy. "Pardon my manners, Miss. Doctor Phillip Donder, at your service. Just call me Phillip."

Judy rose from her seat and stuck a paw through the rail, which the doctor reached up to shake. "Judy Hopps. Nice to meet you. Are you the one responsible for Shamus'…?" she trailed off, thinking it might be indelicate to mention her friend's medical condition.

"I'm a friend of his," the doctor explained in a manner so quick and polished it had to be by rote. Then, changing the subject, he added, "I might have guessed it would be you. Shamus talks about you all the time."

Forgetting the gravity of her private talk with Shamus, Judy turned a thoughtful gaze on him. "He does, huh?"

Shamus raised his paws in defense. "It's not what you think, actually," he protested to Phillip. "We were just…"

Phillip laughed. "Oh, you needn't explain. Well, I won't take up any more of your time. Glad to see you took my suggestions." With that he bowed slightly to the both of them and left, chuckling a little as one amused.

Under the gaze he got from Judy, Shamus seemed to shrink just a little. "My psychiatrist. He's usually more professional, but sometimes…"

Judy had to wonder why he seemed so nervous. "Well, he seemed nice. Is he the one who told you to get out more?"

"Yeah, but I think he was talking about his advice to expand my social life," Shamus admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Says it would be good for my health if I saw more mammals."

This instantly aroused Judy's sympathy. She had run into the same kind of thing from her parents on more than one occasion. Heck, one reason she hadn't told Nick of her plans for the day was so he wouldn't pass it along to her parents just to sic them on her… again.

Fast on the heels of sympathy, though, her suspicion came back for an encore. That Shamus would talk about her with his shrink was hardly surprising, given what she knew she meant to him even just as a friend. That the psychiatrist would tell him to get out and socialize more was also unsurprising. The awkward and self-conscious way he explained it… well, okay, he had always been a little awkward and self-conscious when it came to socializing, so maybe there was nothing to that either.

Maybe.

She shook her head mentally. _Stop overthinking it,_ she chided herself. Whatever else Shamus might have in mind, he was her friend and had always been a good one. Between that and all he'd had to deal with in life, he deserved the benefit of the doubt and some moral support at the very least.

"Well," she said brightly, "it's nice to be part of you livening up."

He smiled at that, meeting her gaze with a look of gratitude. "Couldn't think of anyone better," he said honestly, spreading his paws.

After a long silence, they each went to have another sip of their coffee only to find that their cups had run dry.

"Mm. Want to get some more?" asked Shamus. "My treat."

Judy considered the offer and shook her head. As good as the fireside flavor was, she preferred a good French Vanilla anyway. "Nah. I think I've had enough for now."

"Oh." Shamus' expression fell, then rose again a little hopefully. "Well, is there anything else you'd like to do around the area? I know this part of town pretty well."

She raised an eyebrow. "This is starting to feel like a date," she observed bluntly.

He nearly choked – no easy feat given his mouth was empty. "Uh… no," he answered hastily. "At least… well, I didn't try to… I mean, I would have said something."

The sight of him stumbling like that was pretty funny, but on second thought she did feel kind of guilty for embarrassing him like that. "I'm sorry," she offered, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have said that."

This seemed to grant Shamus a little recovery. "It's fine. You were just, you know, saying what you thought." He stopped awkwardly and then continued. "We… well, I mean, you don't have to stick around if you don't want to. The parade is over."

Judy thought about it. On the one paw, this had gotten pretty awkward and she sure hadn't signed up for a date, even if it was more of an un-date. Limited as her history was in this department, she at least knew she liked to know where she stood with a guy. This was hardly that kind of clear. On the other paw, as Shamus' friend she felt like she should invest some time in him after everything that had happened and all the catching up they had to do.

He seemed to guess her thoughts, for the next thing he said was, "Look, don't stick around because you feel like you have to. I don't want to keep you overtime."

Well, how could she walk away after he said that?

**Not much to say at the end here. One thing I should address is that those who've read the comic, _Daze at the Beach,_ will notice that a certain detail of Taelia's behavior was very different here. Not going to say what it was because spoilers, but suffice to say I decided that to keep things fresh I would take a different approach in this version since I'm kind of dealing with a multiverse anyway. The aspect in question will still be important in how it reflects on things between her and Nick, but in a different way. As for Judy and Shamus, much like Shamus I'm still trying to figure out what's best for this story, so please excuse me if I fumble like… well, like a nervous guy around a nice girl. lol**

**Also, I looked back over chapter one and realized it needed a few tweaks, so feel free to revisit it in a couple of days. Or not; the tweaks won't be much.**


	3. This Might Take Awhile

Nick led Taelia to a small surfboard rental shop down at the end of the nearest beach, built around a trailer but with the front end done up to look more like a bamboo shack.

"So, how long are we figuring this is going to take?" asked Taelia, frowning.

"Not long," Nick promised. "Friend of mine runs the place. He knows I'm coming."

Taelia followed him inside, where a blast of air hit them which was surprisingly cold after the super-hot outdoors. Stifling a shiver, she found herself wishing she had left her dress on a little longer; maybe even packed a sweater.

Nick, apparently, was unbothered by the shift in temperature, though he blinked at the way her fur fluffed out everywhere it wasn't covered by the swimsuit. "Trying a new look?" he asked.

She suppressed a shiver. "Just the sudden shift," she uttered, rubbing her arms and trying to smooth them back down. She hated getting all frizzed up. To distract herself, she looked around. The room in which they stood was lined with surfboards in sizes all the way from pachyderm to pygmy shrew, and in one corner stood a windsurfing board on a driftwood stand. What was odd, though, was that they seemed to be the only mammals in the place. "Where's your friend?"

"I was just wondering the same thing," Nick confessed, looking around. He lifted a paw to the side of his muzzle. "Hey, Mike, you in here? It's Nick!"

"I hear ya! Gimme a second and-!"

From a doorway leading into the back of the trailer emerged a wallaby dressed in khakis with a broad hat hanging on his back by a hemp cord around his neck. He stopped when he saw Nick.

"Nick?" he asked in surprise.

Nick looked just as confused. "You're not Mike."

The wallaby frowned. "No, I'm Ned. Mike's sick today and asked me to mind the shop while I had a day off. Why, did you want to rip him off too?"

"Rip him off?" echoed Taelia.

"Oh boy," Nick groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Out," snapped the wallaby, pointing to the door. "And lady, if you held his paw you might want to count your claws. You can't trust this sneak."

"Hey, listen, Ned, it was a valid bet and you know it."

"It was not. You got me to pay you fifty bucks just to smooch your date."

Taelia whipped her gaze toward Nick.

"Other lifetime," he uttered out the side of his muzzle. "Listen, Ned, I'm just here to rent a board. Mike was expecting me, and-"

"And he's gonna hear that you got held up unless you've got fifty bucks to pay me now. Actually, make that sixty to figure in interest."

"What's all the noise?" asked an elephant, emerging from the back and wiping something waxy off his trunk with a rag pinned to his shirt. "How'm I supposed to work on the boards with all this racket?"

"Hey Don, sorry about the fuss," Nick called with a wave. "Now Ned, I can pay you back for that bet later, but right now I'm kind of busy and my girlfriend is waiting, and-"

"And nothing. You may have had an understanding with my brother, but you're dealing with me, and I want my money."

A deafening trumpet from the elephant cut off the argument, forcing everyone to duck down and cover their ears.

"Thanks for quieting," said Don. "Now, Ned, am I to understand that Nick owes you some money?"

"Sixty dollars," snapped Ned.

"Fifty, tops," Nick argued. "It may have been a trick, but you agreed to the-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" snapped Don. "Let a guy have some peace and quiet. I'm an artist, not a referee. Now Ned, it so happens that Nick spotted me for sixty dollars at the garage last week."

"Bogus," snapped Ned. "This Nick? He probably spotted you with counterfeit money."

"Hey, I'll have you know Nick is a police officer," snapped Taelia, who had kept quiet up to that point mostly out of confusion.

Ned gave her the once-over and looked about ready to fire off some remark about her trustworthiness when Don broke back in.

"Actually, he spotted me with a check for your information, and I cashed it the same day just fine. Now if I'm keeping track I owe him sixty, he owes you sixty, and I'd be happy to pay you instead of him once I have the money if it means I can get back to work. Everybody happy? Good? Then I'm going. See you later and thanks again, Nick."

As argumentative as Ned seemed to be, he wasn't about to squabble with a terse elephant. "Okay, fine. As long as he's paying cash for the board he rents today."

All things considered, Taelia felt about as mixed up as an acorn on a dogwood tree. Resolving to get the story of Nick's unscrupulous wager later, she left Nick and Ned to peruse the boards and poked her head after the elephant's retreating bulk.

"Thank you," she called after him.

He turned and managed a smile. "Sure thing. Sorry to be so surly, but Ned's nothing like his brother, been a pain all day, and I had the dumb idea to give up coffee for Lent, so I've got a bad headache. Workshop's the only place I can get any peace."

Taelia winced at the elephant's predicament. "Oof. Well, uh, hang in there then, I guess."

Don chuckled. "Nick's got a nice girl this time. Have fun out there." He reentered what she took to be his workroom, and a moment later the high-pitched whine of some rotary tool emerged, making Taelia put back her ears.

_Get any peace, huh?_ she thought, wincing a little. _Well, I guess in relative terms._

She turned around and nearly jumped out of her fur to find Nick standing right behind her, especially when he fake-dropped a massive surfboard over her. "Ah! Don't startle a guy when he's trying to scare you!" he laughed.

Her look of surprise quickly turned to one of annoyance as she recognized the joke. "Very funny," she uttered. "I guess we're all set?"

He propped the board on the floor and made an exaggerated bow, waving toward the door. "After you, miss."

Heading out with a brief wave to Ned, Taelia caught the front end of the board. "Here, let me help with that."

"It's fine," Nick assured her. "Lugging Jumbo Pops around builds up some killer biceps."

She eyed him dubiously over her shoulder, privately suspecting he was thinking of triceps. It wasn't worth quibbling about, though, so she just quirked her eyebrows at him in a skeptical fashion to keep him trying.

Their path followed a wide concrete boardwalk spread across a long stretch of rocks stretching out into the blue waves. It and several others like it pulled triple duty, serving as pathways to lookout towers for tourists, markers to keep boats from coming too close to shore, and obstacles to break up incoming waves so beachgoers would have some relative calm for swimming and other water sports.

Taelia eyed the waves beyond the watchtower, and her stomach knotted up just a little the way it had the last time she used slightly expired anchovies in her chowder. The passing boats – some easily large enough to turn the both of them into fish bait – didn't help either.

"Uh, aren't those going to be a problem?" she asked, pointing to an approaching jet ski.

Nick shook his head and pointed, propping the board on one end. "Nah. Most of them stay out of the surf-worthy waves, and they won't cross that buoy out there anyway. See? We're safe. I've done this before."

That was some reassurance, if just a little. "Okay," she agreed, slightly rubbing an arm. "If you're sure about that."

"I'm sure," he promised, leading the way down a ramp to the water. Then he turned to smirk at her in a sly manner as she came apace with him. "Ready for the ride of a lifetime?" he asked, flicking his tail out to brush her ankle.

Taelia huffed in annoyance. Okay, yes, she had made it a point to stir up his interest with the swimsuit, but really. Raising a paw, she pushed back against his muzzle as it was in arm's reach. "Don't push it, hot stuff."

When a wounded look failed to garner sympathy, Nick shook his head in either feigned or very mild annoyance as he clipped himself to the board. "You really _have_ been hanging out with Carrots too much," he complained, attaching another tether and holding out the ankle strap for her.

"Ohh," she mock-lamented in a tone that was half Clawhauser on a bad day and half Judy gushing over an infant. "But I thought you liked seeing me when you pick her up for work."

She had him there, admittedly – especially when picking up Judy came with a few home-cooked goodies or a little 'hey there' finger wave. "Well, let's go," he invited, walking the board into the water and crawling out onto it. Taelia knew enough about surfing to follow suit, crouching down on her paws and knees where Nick sprawled flat on his belly. She took in the view as he guided them out toward the water.

"So once we get out on the waves," he told her, "just get up when I get up, lean with the board, and try to match what I do, alright?"

"Got it," she called as the waves began to pick up around them.

"Oh, and Taelia?" he added, as if just remembering something.

"What?"

He lifted up enough to smirk over his shoulder. "Enjoy the view."

She paused, then rolled her eyes. Suddenly she could appreciate why, after a recent case involving a buck, Judy had reportedly 'missed' a high-five and landed it in Nick's face instead.

_Well,_ she thought, shrugging a little and shifting her weight as the board began to sway on bigger waves, _at least he's not eyeballing _my_ tail._

Five minutes later, her tail - and every other part of her - was too soaked to really be much of an eye-catcher. Bobbing in the waves, she frowned at Nick as they tried to climb back onto the board.

"I thought you said you were good at this," she complained.

"No, I said I'd done it before," he argued. "I was bad at it then, too."

* * *

After leaving the cafe, Judy and Shamus wandered around the frozen district with no real idea what they wanted to do. Shamus offered several suggestions, but it seemed as if he was losing the heart to present them – which, in turn, gradually reduced Judy's interest.

'_This is not going well,'_ he thought, his ears gradually falling back. Maybe they should have just parted ways on leaving the cafe. He could have come up with something later. Now he was getting tired and his leg was giving him trouble, and to top it all off things were getting awkward. He hated awkwardness, which probably explained why he had never had much luck with romance.

Just as he was about to reiterate his desire not to keep her past what she wanted, a voice cut in on their lacking dialogue.

"Excuse me. You got a moment?"

They both turned to see an arctic hare coming their way. On the large side for a lapine, he was easily half again as tall as Shamus. Boasting a lean build in what looked like a ski suit plus a jacket, he gave the impression of being strong and athletic despite his general thinness. His face wore a somewhat lost expression, but his voice suggested comfortable assurance as if perhaps he worked in sales.

"Sorry to interrupt, but could I borrow either of you for a minute? I think I got myself turned around."

Judy glanced at Shamus, who gestured. "Guessing you're better with phones than I am," he offered half-honestly. It was true that phones weren't his specialty, but to tell the whole truth there was something about this guy that he disliked.

Evidently Judy wasn't in the same boat. She shrugged and turned to the hare brightly, always glad to lend a paw. "What do you need?" she asked.

The hare crouched slightly, enough to get close to their level but keeping his tail and knees both out of the snow. "Well, I'm trying to find my way to the Frozen Throne Sports Bar."

"Oh, I know that place," Shamus offered quickly. "It's about three blocks… that way." He pointed.

The hare frowned. "Yeah, thing is, I lose track of directions real easy unless I've got a map to work off of, and I can't get a signal for some reason."

Shamus frowned. He'd heard they were working on the network, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem. _'Something's not right here,'_ he mused as Judy stepped alongside the larger buck to take a look at his phone. From her angle, she didn't see the smile on the guy's face shift from sociable to sneaky. Shamus, on the other paw… now he had a great perspective on the matter.

'_Great. Creep alert.' _He involuntarily tensed up from how the hare was looking at Judy. Oh, the guy didn't do anything when she was looking, but every time her eyes went to the phone screen his went to her body. If sight were contact he would have been on her like an octopus.

"It looks like you just have to go down this street – which is right over there – and then take two rights, a left, another right, and you're there," Judy announced, seemingly unaware of his attentions.

The hare nodded. "Two rights, a left, and a right," he repeated, smiling. "Thanks a lot. I feel so ridiculous having to ask. Really appreciate the help."

_Great. Now get out of here,_ thought Shamus, biting his lip and doing his best not to clench a fist.

As he had been dreading, that was where the hare made his move. Slipping a paw onto Judy's shoulder, he flashed just a little more of a grin. "Hey, are you doing anything? Maybe I can buy you a drink or two for the good deed."

Judy slipped adroitly out of the gesture as the paw started to slip down her bicep. "Uh, thanks, but I don't do alcohol."

_She'd have to be on it already to go somewhere with you,_ Shamus thought.

Evidently their unwanted third wheel didn't get the hint. "Carrot juice? Soda?" He made a small step to the side, getting nauseatingly close at the hips.

"I think she just said she's not interested," Shamus broke in tersely, stepping in close enough – he hoped – to back the guy off of Judy.

The hare eyed him as if he were something to avoid stepping in. "And you are?"

"With her." As soon as the words were out of Shamus' mouth he regretted them, realizing that it sounded like he was staking a claim. "Or at least spending the day with her. Now if you don't mind, you got your directions and you were looking to be somewhere – _else."_

Judy glanced across at Shamus, diverted from her own planned response by his sudden aggression. Was he about to pick a fight over…? No; no way.

"Look, you two," she broke in, trying to step between them and push them apart. That was all she got before the hare picked Shamus up by the front of his coat, lifting him into the air. The two bucks locked eyes, each glaring as if he meant to beat the fur off the other in half a second or less.

"You'd better watch your mouth, gimpy," spat the hare, and made as if to fling Shamus back like an undersized fish.

Shamus narrowed his eyes. The hare had made a whopping big mistake picking him up like that. The way it placed his foot was about as much asking for trouble as donning a Kick Me sign… backwards.

Just when lashed out with both manual paws and his good leg, everything seemed to fly upside-down as the hare yelled and pitched backward. Shamus barely had time to open his mouth before he landed like a sack of potatoes on his foe-turned-landing-pad.

It took him a second to get his bearings, during which the hare's face scrunched up in excruciating pain.

'_Oh,'_ thought Shamus, very calm now that the fight was evidently done. _'Guess I nailed him after all.'_

Judy, meanwhile, stood up from where she had been crouched with one leg outstretched. Evidently she had spin-kicked the hare's feet from under him, much as she had done to Shamus a few times in their old sparring days as kits. She looked from how the hare was now curled up to Shamus as he climbed off.

"Did you…?" she asked, looking to Shamus.

He looked up at her a little guiltily. "Uh, yeah, and I might have popped his ears one, too," he admitted, swinging his paws toward one another to illustrate this second admission.

If she hadn't still been annoyed with him for getting into a fight over her, she might well have been impressed at how quickly and smoothly he'd retaliated from a position which (she hoped) he rarely experienced. As it was, though, matters of business spared her from sorting out just how to feel, if only briefly. "I'll put it down as self-defense," she murmured, reaching into her coat and pulling out a pair of pawcuffs. Using a foot to flip the hare over on his stomach, she pried his paws away from where Shamus had kicked and roughly yanked his arms into place for cuffing.

"Sir, you are under arrest for aggravated assault. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

As Judy bit her lip, Shamus looked on unsure what to do next. He was all set to remark on their teamwork, but something in Judy's manner made him hold back. Maybe he had cramped her style or something?

_This is exactly why I don't socialize very much,_ he thought to himself. _Too many toss-ups._

He decided to try another tack. "Still got the moves from that summer way back when," he observed once she had done her duty by the law. To this he added a complimentary smile – or at least he hoped it conveyed that message. Goodness knew he was out of practice.

Perhaps he had smiled wrong. Whatever the case, a flash of inquisitiveness crossed her face before she broke into a smile. "Not so bad yourself." Then she regarded the hare, who looked on in sullen silence, and fished out her phone. "Too bad we've got to watch this guy now until someone shows up."

Shamus rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. This was definitely not what he'd had in mind.

**Hmm. Interesting problem here. Will Judy be more pleased or annoyed with Shamus' intervention? I'm kind of curious to see what everyone else thinks, so let's hear it.**

**Had a fun time with the scene in the surf shack, building off the idea of Nick 'knowing everyone' and the notion that it could both help and hinder him, given the dichotomy of his past and future lives. Adding in Taelia's perspective made an interesting factor, of course. Meant to have him explain the past wager to which Ned alluded, but in the end it didn't fit very naturally into the chapter, so we'll have it covered later.**

**Oh, and one more detail: I've actually never been surfing and especially not with two on a board, and my one time trying to wakeboard didn't work very well. As a result, please do not take any information in this chapter pertaining to water sports as advisory. Most of the details are strictly speculative, and like all water sports surfing should only be undertaken once you learn how from someone who knows. This message brought to you by your Friendly Neighborhood Lifeguard.**


	4. High and Dry for now

**Hey everybody! My heartfelt thanks to everyone who's been following this story and lending their support. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present (yep, came 'round again). To mark the occasion, I've prepared four new chapters and an all-new story! The others are Night Plague: The Beast Awakens (if this pesky system will stop messing it up, that is), Road Rovers Rebooted 02: Out of the Blue, Prank War Collaboration, and the all-new OC Albums: Taelia! Happy reading, and please remember to fave, follow, and review. Love to know what you guys think out there!**

Shamus had known for quite some time that the average response time when you called a cop was about fifteen to twenty minutes – longer if nobody was dying or about to die. Knowing that numerically and actually experiencing it were two different things, and the fact that the cold was seriously bothering his leg didn't help. At all.

One thing it did help, though, was Judy's disposition. At first the three of them had sat in silence, at least until the perp started complaining that they could at least wait someplace warmer.

"You know, I hear snow is a great insulator," Shamus quipped, pointing a thumb towards a snow drift big enough to hide the hare until July of the next year. "How about we throw you in and find out?"

Judy half wished she had thought to make that remark, but a glimpse of Shamus favoring his leg caught her attention before she could think of anything herself.

"You okay?" she asked, tilting her head.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess I just aggravated it when I landed or something." Digging a paw into his pocket, he sighed and added bitterly, "And of course I left my painkillers at home. Go figure."

If there was one malady from which Judy had always suffered, it was sympathy pains. Well, that and occasional flare-ups of foot-in-mouth syndrome. This was no exception. "You should have let me handle him," she objected without thinking.

"That what you would have done?"

"I'm a police officer," she pointed out. "And I'm not chron-"

"Kindly return my friends' tickets," he quoted very matter-of-factly. "Give him back his lunch. Leave my sister alone."

She raised an eyebrow. How he still remembered all those moments from her childhood, or how he could recite her so sarcastically without an actual sarcastic tone, she didn't know. Before she could say anything, he spoke again.

"Why would I sit back and do nothing? I know you could have handled it, but why be a loser like him?" He jerked a thumb ferociously towards their captive.

"Hey!"

"You pipe down and take notes," Shamus shot right back, whirling on him.

Judy stepped in the middle, and this time there was no budding fight to hinder her. "Okay, you two. You, Mister, can keep your mouth shut for five minutes. Shamus, what's gotten into you?"

Shamus opened his mouth to say something in answer, then stopped. Looking for all the world like someone in a cartoon, he actually brought his paws up and manually closed his mouth. Then he shook his head and seemed to instantly become much more diplomatic, though he still wore a grimace.

"Judy, I'm sorry," he offered helplessly. "Can you just… forget the last minute or so? I get… well, let's just say when my leg acts up it's hard to think straight and I end up acting like an idiot, so please don't take what I was saying too… too anything, okay? I'll be fine in a couple of minutes."

Pushing aside the thought that he wouldn't be in this pain at the moment if he hadn't acted like an idiot, she went to his side and moved to put one of his arms over her shoulder. He moved as if to avoid it, then stopped and accepted the help with a weak smile.

"If it's any help, it's more of a pain than an actual injury," he added. "The muscles and bones were… well, mostly fixed, anyway, but the nerves… well, they really got messed up bad."

She shook her head. "And you still had to get in a fight you knew I could win on my own?"

He shrugged. "What kind of guy would I be if I just stood back and did nothing?" he asked.

It was hard not to think that in this case he would have been a smarter guy, but she kept it to herself. "You never were much good at doing nothing," she admitted with a fair amount of respect. After all, who was she to criticize a bit of well-meaning chutzpah?

"Yeah," he agreed. "I must have picked it up when I was a kid. Wonder who I caught it from?"

She laughed and resisted the urge to elbow him. "Somehow I don't think you needed the help."

The hare, a little ways back, groaned. "Aw, come on. It's bad enough having to sit here in the cold without listening to you two. Just get a room already."

Both rabbits whirled on him, and Shamus was just a bit sooner opening his mouth to reply. He caught himself, though, and left the move to Judy.

"Oh, so you don't like hearing two lovebirds sort things out?" she asked, silently hoping that Shamus wouldn't be too embarrassed by the overplay. "Well maybe if you weren't so obsessed with catching a date you wouldn't be cold-brewing in jealousy right now. Now I told you already you have the right to remain silent, so be quiet."

To her dismay, Shamus did seem to cringe a little at this performance on her part – especially the remark about 'two lovebirds.' Weighing her options, she stepped up alongside him and dropped her voice to a low whisper.

"I owe you later," she promised.

Shamus had never quite understood females, and Judy was an extra puzzle and a half in herself. All things considered, though, he guessed as long as they had a common adversary he could endure a little confusion. Besides, given that he'd upset her by aggravating his leg, he supposed he was the one who owed her.

Keeping it out of view of the hare, he raised his fist to bump hers.

"Aw, come on," complained their prisoner. "Now you're just torturing me. That's not even legal, is it?"

Taking a wink as a signal that it was his turn to needle the nitwit, Shamus made a show of yawning. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Oh, brother."

* * *

With their little dispute cleared up, the time passed with tolerable speed until Officer Fangmeyer came by to collect the hare. The tiger raised an eyebrow at the sight of Judy in the company of a buck, prompting Shamus to signal as quietly as possible that they weren't an item as soon as the door blocked the hare's view. Fangmeyer just shrugged and smiled, clearly only half-believing the defense.

Shamus rubbed the back of his neck as the car pulled away. "I guess that's going to come back to bite you later, huh?"

"What is?" she asked, seeming to have missed her colleague's glances.

"You know…" he trailed off, pointing after the car with a thumb, then to the two of them.

"Oh, that." She shook her head. "Eh, don't worry. I can straighten that out. Besides, if they think I'm seeing someone, who cares? It's not like you're a fellow cop."

Shamus cleared his throat a little too loudly, looking around for an excuse to change the subject. "Well, I think a little light exercise ought to keep this leg from tightening up, and if memory serves there's a good hot chocolate bar in a park not far from here. My treat?"

Although Judy had some concern that Shamus might be pushing himself too far, she decided that she had babied him enough for the moment. Even her duties as a police officer or a best friend only allowed her to push so far.

Finding the stand proved to be slightly more difficult than he'd remembered, but they did find one much like it on the outskirts of a nearby winter sports complex. As they drank, Shamus cast a look at the lid of his drink.

"The one I used to go to had little straws made of hollowed out candy canes," he remarked with a shrug. "I think the yak who ran it made them herself, because I never could find them in stores."

Judy thought about that idea and smiled. "That does sound like fun," she agreed, wondering how one would make something like that. She'd have to ask Taelia about it later. If the vixen didn't know, she'd have a field day experimenting.

Then she caught a far-off look in Shamus' eyes. "What's up?"

"Oh," he shrugged, "I was just remembering. One of those hot chocolates was – or I guess would have been, I should say – my, uh, last cigar, if you know what I mean."

It took a moment for Judy to figure it out. "Oh," she said wearily.

He could tell by the look on her face that his remark had done more harm than good. "I wanted to enjoy something before I jumped, and… well, obviously I didn't. Jump, I mean. I hope I'm not upsetting you by talking about it. I just…" he trailed off in silence.

Judy bit her lip, tears starting to brighten her vision. "Shamus, if you need to talk about it then go ahead, but honestly… yeah, it hurts hearing you say that. I know you're okay now, and I'm glad, but… just wish I'd been there. I should have done something."

It was strange, he reflected, that he could smile despite feeling so lousy. He patted her paw. "You did," he reminded her.

Once they had finished their drinks in silence, both of them were feeling much in the need for something a little less grown-up to take their minds off of things. So when Judy remarked that it had been years since she went sledding, Shamus was only too quick to note a tubing hill not far away; not quite a sledding hill in the regular sense, but good enough if you didn't mind the dizziness of a high-speed spin.

The tubing hill, as it transpired, was divided up into three sections. One was built up in a series of straight runs divided by raised mounds of snow called berms, each ending in a curve along a long, straight piece of ground to burn off speed. A map off to the side, however, showed that there were a couple of other tracks which led a more winding course through wooded areas. One was marked 'Rabbit Race: Small to Medium.' The other bore the marking of 'Rhino Crash: Medium to Large.' Both of them added a stark warning in bold print: 'Sled at your own risk.'

"Guess we should try the straight track for our size," Judy suggested, glancing at Shamus' bad leg.

He waved a paw. "I've got chronic pain, not a wheelchair," he argued. "Let's go on the woodland route."

She shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I am it's what you want to do."

She shook her head. "And if I wasn't here?"

"Then I'd probably try it myself and wreck," he reasoned, "so you might as well make sure I can walk away from it."

Judy made a mental note not to tell Nick about this – ever. If the fox found out she'd been hanging out with a handicapped buck who was even more of a daredevil than she was, he'd never stop talking about it. "Alright, if you're sure you're up to it – because I'll nag you all the way to the hospital if you're not."

"It's a deal."

They procured a two-seater tube shaped like the number eight, and with some difficulty made it up to the top of Rabbit Race.

"Last chance to back out?" Shamus joked.

Judy shook her head. "I would if I thought you would."

For a brief minute Shamus did think about passing on this slope – not for his own sake so much, given that after all he'd been through death just didn't scare him that much – but on the slight chance of Judy getting hurt. Then he shook his head. These slopes were usually the most dangerous for larger animals, since they could build up more momentum and blow the turns easily. Besides, compared to Judy's day job this was about as dangerous as getting a sun tan.

Time would tell just how badly mistaken he was.

* * *

After a few more failed attempts at riding the waves, Nick announced that it was time for the special he'd promised Taelia. Giving her the front of the board, he rearranged his tether so one end was now attached to the front of the board. The other, which had the cuff, was now joined at one of his shoulders and looped across his chest and over the other. With this arrangement he slipped into the water and towed her out around a point dotted with rocks.

"Shouldn't we be wearing life jackets?" she asked. They were rather out from the regular swimming areas.

"No problem," he promised, pointing as a dolphin breached the water about ten yards away. "Those guys are all over this area. Anything goes wrong, they've got us all set. Now, look left."

Taelia turned and for a long moment could only stare. High above and about twenty yards distant loomed a long stretch of cliffs curiously striped in thick layers of black and white, rising at least fifty feet above the waves – which, for mammals their size, might as well be a mile. It was a sight at once inspiring and intimidating.

"No I wish I'd gotten one of those waterproof cameras," Taelia admitted.

Nick grinned and reached under the water as if he were fishing in his pocket. It became clear he'd been doing just that when he brought up just such a device. He released the board and paddled around to the side so that Taelia and the board lay between him and the cliffs.

"Say 'Wilde,'" he called once he had the camera ready.

She rolled her eyes and said it while he snapped the picture. "Don't you think that's a bit narcissistic?" she asked, testing him.

He smirked. "Have you ever tried saying 'Wilde' without a smile?"

Naturally she had to mouth it then, and naturally as amused as she was she couldn't really make a decent effort of it, so that was that. They went through a few more shots, and she would reflect with a blush later that this was technically her first photo shoot in a bathing suit. Most of the shots were pretty demure, but one or two… well, she wouldn't have wanted to do them for anyone but Nick.

"Okay," he announced, returning the camera to his pocket and checking his watch. "We've got a couple of hours before high tide, so that should be enough time to show you the special."

She frowned in confusion. "I thought the cliffs were the special."

"Oh, no," he chuckled, waving a claw and climbing back onto the board. "I used to come out here all the time – you know, back in the day – and I know this cove like my own neighborhood. There's a little secret here not many mammals but the dolphins know about."

Before she could ask, he stuck his pinkie claws in his mouth and let out a whistle so sharp she put her ears back. A moment or two later a dolphin surfaced close by and chattered.

"Wilde!" it chirped. "What are you doing here?"

"Hiyah, Mo," he greeted with a salute. "Had some time off, came out for a date. Taelia, meet my buddy Mo. Mo, meet Taelia."

Mo pushed himself up high enough in the water to wave a fin, and Taelia returned the gesture.

"Don't suppose you'd mind giving us a tow over to the tunnel?" asked Nick.

The dolphin nodded, his perpetual grin growing more pronounced. "Lotsa couples go to the tunnel," he announced with a wink.

Taelia glanced skeptically at Nick, who shrugged and asked if the place was empty at the moment.

"Yeah, but lookout for the high tide," Mo urged.

Nick tossed out the cuff, which Mo expertly caught on his snout, then scooted behind Taelia. "You might want to lean forward and hang tight," he suggested.

She did as he instructed, and felt her face warm as he leaned over her, arms braced to either side to grip the sides of the board while his chin hovered over her back. A moment later the warmth was thoroughly doused as Mo rocketed forward, kicking up spray and making the board skip across the waves as if it too had come alive. She tried to yelp, but soon learned to keep her mouth shut against the brine. If it hadn't been for Nick being above her like he was, she would have been thrown loose at least a dozen times.

At last Taelia managed to get her head around so she could ask Nick a question without getting her mouth completely full of slat water.

"Does he have an off switch?!"

Nick laughed. "You don't hang around dolphins a lot, do you?"

The ride, chaotic as it was, was mercifully short. In only a little time Mo slipped off the ring and the board coasted to a stop. Taelia still hung onto it, breathing hard and soaking wet.

"Ha ha!" laughed Nick, sitting up and scooting back a bit. "Now that's a ride!"

Taelia caught her breath and wiped the salt from her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I… I guess it was."

Nick waved to Mo, who was tail-walking a short distance away so that his sleek gray and white figure towered over the two. "Thanks, buddy! See you later!"

Mo nodded. "High tide!" he called, before doing a back-flip into the water and vanishing from sight.

As Nick paddled them closer to the rocks, Taelia saw an opening in the cliff disappearing into darkness. It rose high enough above the water line that she could have stood up and brushed the top with her paws if she wanted, and looked wide enough that they could ride right in. Obviously this was the tunnel Nick had mentioned.

"So, am I the first to come here?" she asked doubtfully.

Nick hummed as if debating how much to say as they came alongside the aperture. "Let's just say it's been a while."

Taelia hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't trust Nick, but she wasn't one to make a habit of going into dark places alone with a guy. "Where's it lead?" she asked.

"A ways back into the cliffs," he answered, pointing down its length. As Taelia's eyes adjusted she could see that there was light beyond it, albeit around a gradual curve. "There's a grotto at the other end that goes all the way up to the top of the cliff."

She stared down it, weighing the pros and cons of Nick's suggested tour. He must have sensed her hesitation, because he slipped a paw around hers.

"If you'd rather not go, that's okay. I promise I'm not gonna pull-"

"I know you're not," she interrupted, raising her free paw. She looked down at their clasped paws and thought for a long moment before nodding. "Couple of hours, you said?"

At a nod from him, she maneuvered the board into the opening. "Then let's check it out."

The tunnel – like a lot of tunnels – was longer than it looked. At first Taelia sat with her paws in her lap while Nick poled them along by catching his paws on the walls. Then she started poling too.

"You're not scared of dark tunnels, are you?" he asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "I just want to see this grotto you talked about.

"Oh, it's great if you get it at the right time of day," he promised. "There's ledges all the way up; great spots for a picnic or just to hang out."

She could well imagine what he wasn't saying. Back in her high school days all some of her peers could talk about had been finding good getaways for a rendezvous. "And, uh, how do you know about it?"

"Well, since hardly anyone comes here and I'm buddies with the guys out front, I used to use this area for… well, exchanges."

It was with mixed feelings that she received this news, all things considered – not so much because it reminded her that Nick used to be a criminal, but because he was so casual talking about it while she had still barely managed to crack her own shell of silence about things she hadn't even done. He knew enough for the moment, but she privately envied him his openness and matter-of-fact demeanor. Even this trip, which a lot of kits half her age would do without a second's thought, was a major leap for her.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she recalled a conversation she'd had with Judy where she admitted the unpleasant irony of how different her and Nick's backgrounds were. The doe's response had been pure… well, Judy.

'Are you sure that's your problem?' she'd asked pointedly. 'Sounds to me like they're the ones with an issue, not you.'

The recollection brought a smile to her face, and with a shrug she returned to the topic at hand. "So what did you have in mind bringing me here?"

At that moment they rounded the curve, and she got her first look at the grotto. Nick smiled as he watched her reaction.

"Sightseeing."

As they drew nearer the entrance the opening widened out… and so did Taelia's eyes. The grotto was eroded out of the same alternating layers as the cliff's outer face, but where rocks battered away by surf on the outside had made a rough, rugged surface, the inside of the grotto had been carved in cavelike, almost serene fashion. Ledges and small holes almost like burrows dotted a surface while limestone flowed down the sides like wax on a melting candle turned inside-out. Here and there, small sea animals – star fish, mussels, the odd closed-up anemone, and so on – dotted the walls singly or in little knots of color.

"I've never seen anything like this," she said, awestruck.

Paddling across to where a pathway had apparently been carved into the rocks, Nick climbed off the board onto relatively dry ground and then helped her off too.

"Watch your step," he warned as he fastened the board to a rock outcropping.

Up the path they went, relying several times on hand-holds that had been fastened to the rocks.

"Place used to be a sea otter colony back before things got urban," Nick explained. "Then it turned into a ghost town, and now it's a hot spot for rock climbers and lovebirds."

Taelia eyed the railing, and then her eyes turned to a set of initials carved in the wall. Time and tide had deteriorated the letters, but it looked like they used to say A.S. "Who keeps it in shape?" she asked.

Nick shrugged. "Oh, some sports club petitioned to have it declared a landmark, but it's empty about ninety-five percent of the time. Come on. The good spot's further up."

He led her to a ledge large enough that a moderate-sized feline could have curled up on it for a nap. Here the touches of civilization blended with nature were fairly evident. A few rocks had been arranged to make serviceable seats here and there, and one or two even appeared to have been carved to the purpose. The setup reminded her of a show she used to watch about a family of prehistoric bears.

"I used to come here and unwind," Nick explained, climbing onto what could almost have passed for a stone couch. "I stayed away from the place after… well, after a bad experience. But I thought you'd like the place, and I figured it was time to put the past behind me."

This last remark gave Taelia something to think about. It hadn't been that long since she told Nick about her aversion to certain… well, activities, and that a bad relationship had been the main cause. They'd tried to break down a few barriers since then, but it had been touch and go. Sometimes getting close to him came so easily. Other times, not so much. What bugged her the most was she wasn't sure what made the difference. It was like her brain was a sound board and one of the switches kept changing when she wasn't looking. Was this his subtle way of trying to say he got it?

After a brief thought – just long enough for Nick to hesitate in his implied invitation – she went and joined him on the seat. As his arm took a position around her waist, she shifted to lean on his chest and tucked her head under his chin. His chest felt… safe. That was the est word for it; like nothing could go wrong as long as she was right there. It was so quiet that she noticed the beating of his heart and the gentle sound of waves lapping below, punctuated by an occasional _thunk_ as the surfboard knocked against the sides of the space, carrying up to them like smoke up a chimney. The sun, which most of the day must not even be properly visible down this hole, was at just the right angle to shine on their little space, and she wondered if Nick had somehow timed this date just right for them to enjoy it.

The butterflies in her stomach settled down, and she found herself enjoying the gentle caress of his fingers on her exposed stomach. She'd never actually felt that before; hugs, yes, but not with this kind of directness and, really, vulnerability if you wanted to be direct about it. It might be that he wasn't even conscious of his paw being in that spot, let alone of its impact on her, but she was.

Then after a while, neither of them was conscious at all for quite some time.

* * *

When Taelia did wake up, it was due to the fact that Nick had gotten up and was gently easing her down onto the stone itself.

"Hm?" she murmured, not quite realizing she had fallen asleep.

"Ah, darn it," he uttered. "I was hoping to let you rest a bit longer."

Propping herself with one arm, she yawned widely and stretched her back. Her gaze turned to him, and the first thought she had was that he looked pretty handsome like this. The next thought to come to mind was that he was looking over the edge of their little shelf with his ears slanting back a bit.

"Aw, nuts," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He turned and poked a thumb over his shoulder toward the grotto. "Well, the good news is we've got more time to cuddle," he remarked, sounding strangely unenthusiastic about it.

Still not quite awake, she had a bit of trouble processing his remark. Then she remembered the dolphin's warning about the tide.

"Oh no," she groaned under her breath. "Nick, please tell me we're not stuck here until the tide goes out."

Nick had never looked more nonplussed on one of their dates; not even the time when he borrowed a convertible with a dysfunctional roof and it started raining. "Not exactly the date you were expecting, huh?"

The sun had left their little space by now, and while she couldn't judge the time of day it was definitely getting cold in there.

**I should clear up one technicality just in case I've misstated my facts about police calls, which I can't check very well, what with the lockdown. The average response time of a 911 call is about fifteen minutes (I'm assuming that's the average for the US in general), which is a point frequently raised by Second Amendment advocates like the NRA. I'm guessing, though, that since no one was in any real danger in this instance the police would probably take longer (i.e. driving only the speed limit, not using sirens, etc.).**

**It may be of some interest to know that I originally planned this story to include a scuba diving scene for Nick and Taelia, in which one of them almost got eaten by a grouper (a kind of large fish ironically known to be edible), forcing them to surface in a hurry and go to the hospital to avoid decompression sickness, also known as the bends. As dramatic an option as that was all in all, after consulting with my uncle – an avid scuba diver – I learned what I should have guessed from the get-go: namely that even with the best conditions possible (a safe area and an instructor present), getting certified for scuba diving takes a minimum of five hours in a classroom. That didn't quite fit the time table I had planned for this story, so I had to find some other way for Nick and Taelia's date to go awry. Lol**

**As for how they get out of it, and how Judy and Shamus manage to get into trouble, you'll have to just keep reading and see. Enjoy!**

**Easter Eggs:**

**Journey to the Center of the Earth**


	5. Where Do We Go From Here?

When I published the previous chapter, I neglected to mention that the tubing hill where Judy and Shamus went was part of a larger winter sports complex, which I mention because that's going to play into this chapter. For those who've never been snow tubing (my condolences if that's you), just imagine you're sliding down hill in a giant inflatable rubber doughnut with a hard plastic bottom kind of like a huge upside-down frisbee attached to the bottom and you've got the basic mental picture. There's also usually a strap for towing it when you're not riding it.

Now that that's been explained, let's check in on Nick and Taelia, shall we?

**Colossus: 'I'm not going to throw up.'**

**Iceman: 'I'm seriously going to throw up.'**

**Nightcrawler: 'I will not throw up in front of the ladies.'**

**X-Men comic (Title and series unknown)**

Stuck in the grotto, the vulpines stared up at the hole some distance above them. It wasn't that far; maybe twenty feet. Yet those were twenty feet of walls which for the most part sloped inward.

"Didn't Judy say you guys had to take climbing classes at the academy?" Taelia ventured.

Nick sighed and turned his back to the grotto. "We did, but these are way past that grade. Besides, didn't you notice the sign?"

"What sign?"

He pointed, and she looked over to a space of wall where someone had pegged a notice. 'These walls contain nooks and crannies currently being used by nesting birds,' it read. 'Rock climbing here is extremely dangerous and prohibited until further notice. Please stay on the footpaths for your safety and the safety of our fine feathered friends."

She shook her head and sighed in disappointment. Under most circumstances she liked the sight of nesting birds, but if those birds were inclined to shoot out and peck you to kingdom come, not so much. Then she looked down at the greenish sea water fading into darkness in depths of the shaft. "I guess we can't swim out."

"Not unless you brought a scuba tank."

"Sorry. I think I left it in my other swimsuit."

He glanced her way, then shook his head and went back to the stone seat with her following to huddle next to him for warmth. Though her swimsuit had dried for the most part, her fur was still pretty damp and it had begun to get cold.

"I guess we're stuck here until the tide goes out," Nick added distantly, like he was thinking out loud. Then, chagrined, he added, "And I'll bet Ned's going to think I made off with the board, too."

Taelia sighed. "Oh, forget him. He's just a jerk." Then the mention of Ned brought something else to mind. "Come to think of it, what was the story behind the bet you'd made with him?"

He huffed. "Well, you probably wouldn't like it."

"Maybe not, but if it involves your past love life I think I have a right to know."

All things considered, he guessed that was a fair point. "I'll tell you if you tell me something," he replied.

She shrugged. "Okay, but you first."

Reflecting she might be sorry she'd said that, he shrugged. "Well, it was… oh, I forget how far back it was. Before I met you, anyway."

"I'd hope so."

He let out a half-snort, half-chuckle at her playful tone. "Well, I was on a date, spotted Ned a few tables down, and left a second to touch base with him. We made a few jokes, and he made a wisecrack about my background with the ladies. So I bet him I could get a kiss from any girl I wanted in the place, went back to my gal, and after a bit of chatting told her the next round would cost a smooch."

She shook her head, finding it rather believable that he would pull a stunt like that. "And just what were the 'rounds'?" she asked warily.

"Buffalo wings," he answered. Then, knowing her penchant for details on food, he added, "Beer-battered with ghost peppers in the hot sauce. You'd love 'em."

Taelia considered this description. She'd heard good things about beer as a cooking ingredient, but she'd never tried it. Also she wouldn't want to mix kissing and hot sauce. She guessed it would be hard to enjoy with her mouth on fire.

Evidently Nick felt a change of topic was in order. "And by the way I promise I will never pull a stunt like that on you. Scout's honor."

Knowing about the JRS incident, Taelia could only shake her head again at the irony of his using that phrase. All the same, she appreciated his promise. Shy as he knew her to be, it meant a lot dating a guy who wasn't going to press her for favors or try to bargain his way into them. She liked his confidence, even if it could be rather adorkable at times, but he was gentle about it. She shifted a little more into him, letting the action signify her trust in him.

"So," he asked then, "guess it's my turn."

"Guess it is. Will it be a truth or a dare?" she joked.

He huffed out a laugh, though truth be told he'd mostly put it in terms of a trade hoping to dissuade her from asking about his romantic history. Now that there was actually something to ask, he was coming up empty.

Casting his eyes about for some inspiration, they happened to fall – not so surprisingly – on her bathing suit.

"Uh… never mind," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

* * *

Shamus had always thought it rather silly that movies always showed time slowed down during disasters and tragedies. As a long-time martial arts fan (or as much of one as he could be with his handicap) he liked to see things fast-paced, just barely slowed down enough that you could see what was done and how.

He had a rather different perspective when the warning call came.

"Okay, you two ready to fly?" asked the kangaroo manning the top. The marsupial crouched down, holding onto the back of the tube with his short arms so that his face loomed over the two of them almost claustrophobically.

"Always ready," Judy chimed brightly.

"Same here," Shamus replied with somewhat less energy but no lack of enthusiasm.

"Alright. Let me just check the track…"

The kangaroo planted his foot on a bit of the tube's towing strap which hung loose, and Shamus made a mental note to pull the strap in all the way once they started. Their larger friend rose up, looked one way and then another with a gloved paw shielding his eyes, and nodded after a look towards the bottom of the hill.

"Brace yourselves on that first turn, by the way," he advised. "Curve's a little sharp today."

Shamus nodded, swallowing slightly as his readiness started to weaken. He remembered a little too late that it had been years since he'd been on a roller coaster, and the last time he went on one it hadn't ended well for his stomach or the mammal next to him.

'_Not in front of Judy. Please not in front of Judy,'_ he half-thought, half-prayed.

The kangaroo's cheerful, rapid-fire sending-off speech did not really help at the moment.

"Alright, please keep your arms, legs, and if possible your bodies inside the tube at all times. Now sit back, relax, and prepare to die."

He was just giving them a hefty shove with his foot when a shout from down by the first curve sounded up the hill.

"Wait!"

Snow tubes, as anyone who's ever been down a hill in one can probably tell you, are not the most straightforward way down a hill. As the ride began to spin it became hard to tell what was going on or even which way was uphill. Shamus did, however, catch clear flashes of the kangaroo scrambling after them on the slick hill, a yak waving frantically from the first curve, and Judy looking every bit as anxious as he felt.

On the whole, he suspected that last one scared him the most. In the time he had known Judy, nothing ever scared her until that moment.

'_Where's the brakes on this thing?!'_ he thought. Then an idea seized him.

What had happened, as they discovered later, was that the previous user of that hill had been just a tad too bulky for the slope and just a bit too short for the other, and had damaged the curve which lay in their path. The yak, noticing this too late to stop them, was trying to buttress the damaged wall with his body. The kangaroo, meanwhile, had tried to stop them before it was too late but succeeded only in following them into an even more chaotic descent down the hill.

As the strap bounced around outside the tube, the kangaroo saw his chance to salvage this crisis and renewed his pursuit, diving for the handle like a baseball player making one final effort to get under a pop fly. Instead he succeeded only in plowing into the back of the tube just as it hit the ramp, sending it straight up the sharp incline, just past the yak's flailing hooves, and down the very un-groomed slope on the other side.

It was a brief but chaotic ride. Shamus and Judy tried as best they could to shelter in the relative safety inside the inner tube as they bounced around off of unidentifiable obstacles which must have included a good many trees, snow drifts, and probably a small boulder or two. A final flip into the air gave them a breathtaking view of the water pipes for the snow machines, which were apparently either in need of or going through maintenance that day and had generated a small pond towards the bottom of the slope.

'_Not the water,_' Shamus had just enough time to think. '_Please not the water.'_

A sudden lurch announced – if either of them had had the time to process it – that the trailing strap had caught on some obstacle. The tube snapped to an abrupt halt, catapulting its passengers loose directly into the water. The tube rebounded on its strap, came loose, and half-rolled, half-bounced down the hill to land on top of them just as they moved to get up.

'_Somebody kill me,'_ thought Shamus.

* * *

Back in the grotto, Taelia had inescapably caught onto Nick's very deliberate non-looks at her figure. The fact that he was going out of his way not to notice how much fur she was showing, ironically, only made it all the more embarrassing.

'_Definitely not what I was planning,'_ she thought, rubbing a bare upper arm.

After a long period of silence she clicked her tongue. "Nick, there's something I need to tell you."

"What's that?" he asked, still gazing out at the water.

It was near torture trying to think how to break the subject, and reminded her why despite the trouble it had caused her she preferred to let guys take the lead in romance.

It was too much. "Nick, could you just… look at me for a minute?"

He turned to her, very deliberately focusing his attention on her face.

"I appreciate that you've been trying to be decent," she said quietly. "I know it's not easy for a guy with your history."

Nick bit his lip and laid back his ears. "Well, like you said I've tried not to look too interested."

"That's the thing, though," she said, turning to face him. "I _want_ you to be interested." She almost lost her nerve as his confusion clearly increased, but there was no going back now. "Nick, you're the best guy I've ever dated, bar none. If things keep up, I'm... I'm going to want to move forward, if you know what I mean."

His confusion visibly shifted from confused to awkward. "Uh, do you mean move forward as in settling down?"

"Well I'm still leaving that call up to you," she answered, "but... yeah. I'm not stupid, you know. I know how life goes, and honestly, I don't want to just spend the rest of it going on regular dates."

This was getting a little confusing for him, and he wasn't really used to being confused. "So where's that leave us?"

At last she turned and spread her paws slightly as if to frame her figure. "It leaves us with me wanting you to notice me. I want this to be a relationship, not a gag order. If you like what you see, tell me about it. If you want to look or cuddle, that's fine. I can't believe I'm actually telling you to do that, but I know you won't until I say so. So… I'm saying so."

Nick stared at her, taking in what she had just told him. It was safe to say Taelia was the most chaste girl he'd ever dated. Sure, most of them hadn't thrown themselves at him, but with this new side of her demeanor he couldn't have been more surprised if she had asked him to marry her then and there. Actually, on the whole maybe a proposal would have been less out of character.

"Um, okay," he said slowly. Then, warming to the moment, he spoke a bit more directly. "I mean, that's great… because honestly, that's a really good look for you."

She smiled and let her paws swing in to clasp just in front of her waist. "Thank you."

Seeing as he had nothing better to do, he slipped a paw around her waist. "Care to go for a stroll?" he asked.

She glanced around at their limited walking space, wondering where exactly he expected to go. She got up, though, and they walked out to the water's edge. She leaned her head against his shoulder. From there, somehow or other, they migrated to a stance facing one another with his arms behind her back just above waist height, and hers wrapped around his chest and upper arms. This time, when their chins weren't on each other's shoulders, his attention to her face was different; natural. She could have watched him watching her for hours. She wondered what was going through his mind, but she could tell what was on her own. Someday, she resolved, if he got around to asking her the question, she would say yes.

A rumble in her stomach made her giggle with embarrassment… until she realized it wasn't her stomach at all. Her ears flicked, and in unison she and Nick looked up toward the top of the shaft.

"What's that sound?" she asked.

Nick slipped away from her, leaving a cold sensation on her stomach where he'd been warming her. "I dunno, but it could just be our ticket out of here."

A voice echoed down to them.

"Okay, I'll get the harness on! You guys get the hoist ready!"

"Hoist?" echoed Taelia.

Nick crossed his fingers. A moment later a head poked into view up above. A feline face looked this way and that around the shaft, then suddenly locked onto them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing down there?"

"Trapped," Nick answered. "We kinda lost track of time and got stuck!"

The feline, an adolescent leopard, blinked in surprise. "Nick? Is that you down there?" Then he turned to look over his shoulder. "Hey, guys! Buddy of mine's in the hole with a hot vixen!"

Nick would have facepawed except he was preoccupied with recognizing the leopard. "Andrew? Andrew, is that you?"

Taelia blinked too, then rolled her eyes. "Why does it even surprise me anymore?" she asked quietly.

"In the fur, man!" Andrew called back. "Boy, you really got yourself in a jam this time! Musta lost track of time with the lady, huh?"

Trusting he couldn't see her embarrassment from that distance, she lifted her fingers in a small wave. Nick slipped a paw around her shoulders.

"It's, uh, not as dumb as it looks. Listen, what are you doing up there?"

"Oh, the boys were about to lower me down, get some shots of the nesting birds for a wildlife mag!"

As awkward as the situation was, Taelia's heart jumped at this. "You mean you've got some kind of crane up there?"

"Something like that. Need a lift out?"

Nick sighed with relief. "Andrew, you are a lifesaver. I owe ya, buddy!"

It didn't take long at all for Andrew and his crew to rig their apparatus. It wasn't exactly a crane in the regular sense, but a pulley at the middle of a long, stout beam. After Andrew put on his harness and attached himself to the pulley, he climbed down into the hole and let two of the others move the ends of the beam out while another held onto the rope's free end. Once he was out over the middle of the shaft, they began to lower him down as he, slowly turning, snapped photo after photo of the birds.

"I wish he'd hurry up," Taelia confided under her breath. "I don't want to complain, but I'm freezing."

Nick shrugged. "He's a professional," he allowed. He might have tried asking Andrew to speed things up anyway, but an idea occurred to him. "I can always warm you up," he offered, standing behind her and hugging her against himself.

Taelia was a little embarrassed, but also enjoyed the moment – at least until the camera turned their way and flashed.

"And a once in a lifetime photo of the elusive endangered lovebirds," joked their rescuer.

Taelia bit her lip while Nick waved a paw. "Yeah, funny. Hate to complain, but the girlfriend's getting cold down here and we've got a car and a rental shop to get back to. Could you maybe hurry things up a bit?"

"Yeah, no sweat," called Andrew, signaling the yak far above to lower him faster. "Say, I don't think I caught her name?"

"Oh, this is Taelia Fangaster. Taelia, meet Andrew."

"Nice to meet you," Taelia replied.

"Back at you, Miss. You picked a heck of a spot to snuggle, but I guess you should know Nick just can't stay out of trouble when vixens and water are involved."

Taelia glanced at Nick, who was starting to look ill. "Is that a fact?"

"Oh, yeah. Let's see, was it last week or the week before? I ran into him at a beach just a few blocks down the coast, and he and his-"

"First of all, that was my mom," Nick protested, breaking off his hold to motion with both paws for Andrew to please for the love of Zootopia stop. "I brought her down this way for Mother's Day and things got a little messy which, by the way, I'd just like to forget."

Andrew laughed. "How could you forget a thing like that? You two looked like a couple of soaked towels when I pulled you out of the water."

Nick facepawed while Taelia looked on.

"Sorry," she uttered quietly. "Was she alright?"

He sighed, putting on the best smile he could under the circumstances. "She got a leg cramp, I went to pull her out of the water, and Andrew happened to be there and thought we were both drowning," he explained a little impatiently.

Taelia giggled slightly. "Well, at least everyone was okay."

"Until this little conversation."

Shaking her head, she leaned in and planted a peck on his cheek. "That's for your bruised ego," she whispered.

He threw her a grateful look which was interrupted as Alex, pumping his legs to propel himself forward, called for them to step back while he touched down on their ledge.

"Climb on," he ordered cheerfully. "Last love boat out of here for the day."

* * *

Things were not going well for Judy and Shamus. Fortunately they were both relatively unhurt, though the tube was ripped beyond repair and they had both sustained their share of bruises and were, of course, freezing cold.

To the staff's credit they wasted no time in getting to the rabbits or summoning the on-site medics, all under the supervision of the park's director, an arctic fox Judy had met once by way of Nick; Rocky MacIntyre.

"I'm so sorry about all this," he told the two as the medics carted them inside a round tent-like yurt.

"Really, I'm fine," Shamus protested while a yak looked him over.

"Sir, I tried to stop them as soon as I found out," offered the kangaroo, who had been one of the first to arrive at the scene and had feverishly helped the medics as best he could. "I didn't know the curve was damaged; honest."

"John, not now. You get up to that slope and start fixing the wall. We're going to talk later about those launches of yours."\

The kangaroo threw one last apologetic look at the rabbits before departing as ordered.

The process of examining them was not exactly either rabbit's idea of fun, but the good news was they both came up with clean bills of health – up to a point. The bad news was that they had to get out of their wet things and into some saunas before they caught hypothermia, and as luck would have it only one of the resort's saunas was working that day.

'_Thank goodness for towels,' _thought Shamus as he and Judy sat on wooden benches in the steamy room. Judy had covered herself from armpits to hips in the terrycloth, but he still made a point of not looking in her direction. Mostly he just stared up at the ceiling wishing he'd never gotten out of bed that morning. The size of the place – made for mammals of all dimensions – only added to the feeling of emptiness and isolation once the door was closed.

"This could not be worse," he groaned. "I'm never going to-"

"Oh, don't blame yourself," Judy urged. "We got out okay, right? Besides, it's as much my fault as yours."

"I was the one who suggested snow tubing."

"Only after I said it had been years since I went sledding."

"But _I _was the one who brought you here," he argued. "If I hadn't gone and tried to…"

Judy pricked her ears at the way he trailed off – as if he had been about to say something but stopped himself. "Shamus, what's with you? Why are you being so hard on yourself?"

He took a deep breath and bit his lip. "Judy, I wanted… well, I wanted us to have some fun together. This was definitely not what I had in mind, and… oh, never mind."

Something in his demeanor set off her inner radar, and to be frank she wasn't sure what to make of it. Had he been trying to set this thing up as some kind of date? He wouldn't usually be that roundabout, but it would explain some things.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

He bit his lip. "I guess it's only fair to come out and say it. I wanted to make you smile because… well, because you're the reason I'm still here." At last he did meet her gaze. "Judy, ever since the day I decided not to die I've woken up every morning thinking that you're the reason I did. Every little thing I enjoy – even if it's just a breath of crisp air or the smell of a hot meal – is thanks to you. I wanted to do something to pay you back."

She huffed. _'So that's all it is?' _she thought. _'Some kind of payback thing for saving his life?' _"You didn't have to do that. You know that, right?"

"Of _course_ I know that. That's why I wanted to." Pausing slightly, he went on. "Judy, ever since we were kids you've been like that. You'd risk your neck for a total stranger, but you were so… so _you_ that you wouldn't expect anyone to do anything for you. Sometimes you wouldn't even _let_ someone help you out or return a favor, so I wanted… well, I wanted to make sure someone was doing _something_ for you. It just didn't seem fair to do anything else."

Judy knew Nick would call her sentimental if he were there, but Shamus' speech was perhaps the most touching thing anyone had said to her since goodness-knew-when. Shamus was a total goof sometimes, but he was also the sweetest goof she'd ever met, except maybe for Clawhauser. Given the fact that he had every right in the world to just look out for Number One after what he'd dealt with, that said even more.

Shamus looked at his paws laying limply in his lap, one clutched around the fold where his towel overlapped itself around his waist and legs. "Figures it would turn out like this."

If there was one weakness Judy had, it was that she couldn't stand a sad face. "Are you kidding?" she asked, brightening. "That was the wildest ride I've ever been on. I'll be talking about it for years."

His eyes widened a little, and he looked up at her in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Heck, yeah," she answered. Okay, so she wouldn't talk about it a _lot_, but the fact of the matter was she probably would look back and laugh at the whole thing later. She'd done that with closer shaves anyway; high-speed chases, the vine incident with Nick, and more than she cared to list besides. Why not add this one to her list of adrenaline escapades?

He must have caught something in her face, because his eyelids lowered a little. "Judy, don't try to spare my feelings on this. I'm a lot of things I'd rather not be, but I'm not a child."

Judy realized that she hadn't given Shamus altogether enough credit. "Okay, yeah, definitely a mess. I won't argue that, but who cares? We're okay, and on the whole, we had a good time. At least I did. So… thanks."

Shamus studied her, trying to decide if she was being honest or not. Finally he lightened just a little. "Well, as long as it worked out, then," he conceded. "I guess even I can get lucky sometimes."

She shook her head, but said nothing. She knew she didn't need to, and honestly it felt like words would just spoil the moment.

It didn't quite escape her that he looked at her longer than before, though he was a gentlebuck about where he turned his eyes. Still, she was pretty well caught off-guard when he uttered, as to himself, that it was just as well this hadn't been a date.

She scrunched her face. "Um, okay, why would you bring _that_ up?"

"Bring what u-?" he started to ask, breaking off sharply as a look of dismay came over his face. His paw slowly rose to his forehead. "Aw, cripes, did I say that out loud?"

At a nod from her, his temperature went into a spike that had nothing to do with the steam. He began to fumble for something to say, helped little by her quizzical gaze. Then, though he would never know how in the world he'd brought himself to manage it, he stopped and shut his eyes to gather his thoughts.

'_For the love of Pete, Shamus, get a grip on yourself,'_ he thought. _'Just once you've got a chance to steer your own course in life, and the worst that can happen is you finish where you started. Man up or shut up!'_

He opened his eyes, and for an agonizing moment it looked, even to him, like he was going to take the latter option as he had done so many, many other times in life. Then he took a deep breath.

"You remember how when I first called you about the parade, you asked if this was like a date or something?"

Judy nodded, though the only reason she had asked that was because Taelia had inadvertently caught the gist of their conversation and clearly wondered the same. "Yeah…" she affirmed slowly.

Shamus bit his lip and pushed ahead. "Well, the truth is I had been hoping it could be something like that. I've wanted it ever since we talked at the Christmas party; maybe before. But I… well, I also knew there was a chance you wouldn't be interested in a relationship, and I wasn't surprised when on the phone you sounded that way. You always were independent, and I know I'm not… well, you know."

Honestly she wasn't entirely sure what he meant on that last part. However, his view of his own romantic merits wasn't the point at the moment, so she put a pin in it. "But you asked me anyway because…"

He spread his paws. "Well, why not? So I was disappointed. So things didn't go where I was hoping. It's not like I lost anything I'd had before. If I had to just stick with having a good time with the best friend I've ever had, why not? If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there's never any sense in letting what you can't have spoil what you do – and what I have is the best friend I could ever ask for and then some, who also happens to be… well, very attractive. So why not?"

That cast a different light on things. She turned the revelation over in her mind for a while, thinking long and hard before she spoke again.

Evidently the silence was too much for Shamus. "I didn't mean to be dishonest with you," he added fervently. "I mean, I wanted to tell you the whole truth, but I didn't want us to have that kind of conflict hanging over our heads."

She smiled a little at that. She was well aware that bucks liked what they saw when they looked her way. That guy they'd busted earlier was hardly the first male to hit on her, and some had even gone so far as to try it while she was in uniform. Knowing that a guy she could actually enjoy being around wanted something more… well, it was kind of nice. Besides, even though looks weren't her first concern by any means, she could see now that Shamus was in pretty good shape considering what the treatments must have done to him. All in all, if he'd meant to say earlier that he wasn't the best catch out there, she'd have to argue that he was higher on the list than he thought. She guessed if she _were_ looking for a relationship, she couldn't think of anyone she'd rather date.

Of course, that if was a rather operative word in this case. "Well, I'm glad you told me," she said honestly, "but that makes this kind of awkward now."

"I know, and I'm sorry for that," he assured her. "Listen, I understand if we're not on the same page here. If you want to stay where we are, then… well, I'll respect your decision in any case. That's all I have to say."

She nodded, smiling a little in a bittersweet kind of way. She appreciated the leeway, though she reflected that it also put the whole thing squarely on her shoulders now. Between his history in general and her history with him, it was hard to say no; hard to hold back the words that would bring him so much happiness. On the other hand, as much as she liked and cared about him, she didn't want to say yes and find out later that her heart wasn't in it.

"Well, I know this is going to be tough on you," she said slowly, "but really, I need to think about this."

Surprisingly he didn't seem let down by this answer, or even sorry that she had said it. He was actually smiling as he nodded in reply, though his shoulders and ears slumped just a little.

"I do like you," she added, raising her free paw, "but I don't want to say yes or no too soon. This isn't exactly a small decision for me, or for you for that matter."

He nodded again. "Yeah, I know that. Take as much time as you need, and… well, thanks for being honest." Then, evidently supposing she might be worried about his history dealing with disappointment, he smiled just a little. "If it's any help, I promise I won't do something stupid either way."

She hadn't really thought he would try to end himself again over a romantic refusal, but the truth was that it did give her some comfort hearing him say that directly. "Thank you. And I really will think about it; I promise."

They didn't say much after that, choosing instead to enjoy the companionable silence in the room. About the only further thought on the subject was when Judy giggled a little and Shamus glanced at her curiously.

"I'd better make sure to tell Rocky not to talk about this," she said, her ears drooping slightly with embarrassment. Catching Shamus' puzzled look, she added, "He's old friends with Nick, and if Nick finds out we were in here like this… well, I'd never hear the end of it."

Shamus chuckled a little and made a motion of zipping his lips. "I won't tell," he promised.

Once their clothes were dried, they made their way by bus and train back to her place in Savannah Central. Judy wasn't sure if he saw her home to be romantic or just out of his deep-rooted thread of old-time chivalry, but she decided to take it for what it was either way and sort out details later. She did know that the whole thing felt… right. From having a good friend nearby (and who knew where it might go from there?) to the lingering warmth of clothes fresh from a dryer, she wasn't sure she'd call it a life-changing moment, but it was definitely something she could learn to like.

Before parting ways, Shamus cleared his throat. "I hope we can meet again soon," he offered reservedly. Then, lest she take this the wrong way, he hastened to add, "I mean, if you… if you'd like to."

She shook her head. She suspected he'd be embarrassed if she said it straight out, but he was cute when he was awkward. "I'd love to," she promised.

Before she could leave, he reached out and caught her paw just long enough to halt her. "Judy," he said quickly. "Thanks. You know, I never told you this, but… you're the best friend I ever had. I'll always appreciate that."

Smiling, she grasped his paw and gave it a light squeeze. "Thanks. That means a lot, really."

If it had been a movie or something he would always suppose later that she would have planted a peck on his cheek before leaving, but it wasn't, and she didn't. Still he was able to give a genuinely satisfied sigh to the empty hallway as he headed off for his own place.

* * *

Inside the apartment, Judy found signs that Taelia had made it home ahead of her; a swimsuit hung up in the bathroom (neither female liked to put wet clothes in the hamper) and soft breathing from behind the vixen's bedroom door. The soft smile on her face deepened as she mused how their date must have gone. Probably dinner at a nice restaurant or checking out a movie after their day of fun in the sun. It was a rather corny picture, but it suited them somehow.

'_I'll bet Taelia's going to suggest a double-date next time,'_ she thought. Then she shook her head. Nick would probably tease Shamus – sort of a hazing thing – and while it was a given that any buck around her would have to get used to that, it seemed only fair to ease into it for him no matter how things went.

All things considered, though, she was much too tired to think about that at any length. So she satisfied herself with a shower, a light snack, and then – out of a sisterly sense of curiosity – a peek in on Taelia. The vixen was resting comfortably, snuggled up with a large plush Nick had won her sometime back at a carnival or something. The smile on her face said all the doe needed to know.

Much as she'd always said romance wasn't for everyone, Judy couldn't help thinking…

* * *

On returning to his own apartment, Shamus tossed his keys into the basket that sat by his door. Physically speaking he was more than ready to just fall into bed, but somehow his mind was just too awake.

He'd actually told Judy, and she hadn't shot him down; not completely, anyway. His deeply embedded realism told him that she still might, and frankly who could blame her when all was said, but at least she seemed to see something in him. If a doe like her could consider him worth a second thought, maybe there was hope for him yet.

His attention turned to a list he kept by his bed; a sort of bucket list to which he continually added or took away, short-term goals mingling with long-range ones he'd like to do. The old adage "if the Lord wills, we will live" had a special meaning for one who might live a full life or get his six months (again) at the next screening, but at least today he could scratch off one item.

_Do something nice for Judy._

He drew a line across it, then with an odd and somewhat capricious smile added _'Tell her how I feel about her' _to the list and crossed it out. There. Now he had a permanent reminder that he'd actually done it. Though he wondered now if he should have crossed out doing something nice for her. Should that really be a one-time thing, especially if they were thinking of taking this to another level? He wrote another addendum to the list: _Do something else nice for Judy._ A permanent addition; a recurring self-reminder as long as his heart was still beating. He supposed in a way she'd like that, though it wasn't nearly what she deserved by any means.

As he changed for bed, an almost hollow lightness filled his chest as thoughts of what could be took over from the apprehension he hadn't fully recognized before. It was true he was hardly the whole package; that much he could admit without bitterness or false modesty. If there was one thing he had learned – and from her most of all – it was that one could not let what ifs bog them down. There was little any mammal could do in life but play the hand fate dealt them and give it everything they had.

'_Everything I have,'_ he mused, looking again at the list. There was another list next to it; the pencil list, as he sometimes thought of it, cataloging things he'd considered but wasn't sure were worth putting on the bucket list. A while back he'd looked over some possibilities for classes; something to advance his career and break away from the garage. He'd thought of it mostly as a way to get away from working on engines all the time – a job for which, quite frankly, he'd lost his stomach years ago. Pragmatism had kept him to it, in as much as it was something he did well enough and something that paid him well enough. It wasn't a nice anchor, but it was an anchor just the same.

Now, though, with Judy in the equation, it was another matter. He knew for sure what she'd tell him, and she'd be right too. If there was one thing she didn't deserve, it was stagnation. Besides, if she knew she'd urge him to do it for himself anyway, and she'd be right. Besides, maybe if he did he'd be able to help people do more than get to work someday.

'_Guess I'll look it up in the morning,'_ he thought as sleep took over at last.

* * *

The following morning, Judy woke to the smell of vegetables stir-frying and knew Taelia was making breakfast. It took little convincing to get her limbs in motion and, after a few stretches, exit into the living room to get things in order for a bite.

"Well," Taelia greeted brightly on seeing her flatmate, "and where have you been all night, young lady?"

Judy shook her head in amusement. "I was back before curfew, Mother," she joked right back. Then, guessing what Taelia was likely to pry into next, she added in a mock-defensive tone, "And he didn't even try to kiss me."

'_Darn it,'_ thought Taelia, flipping over a portion of the breakfast in the pan. She scooped out half of it into a hotplate, then augmented the rest with an egg, some grated cheese, and a few mushrooms she'd been preparing in a separate pan for her own breakfast.

Judy decided to turn the tables on Taelia before she could come up with another plan of attack. "So what exactly were you and Nick up to last night?" she asked, pretending suspicion. "Given how KO'd you were when I got home you must have had quite a time."

Taelia shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She decided on the spur of the moment that if Judy was going to be dodgy about her date (never mind that it had specifically not been a date; woman's intuition said it was a date), she could always play the same game.

After setting up and having a quick grace, she gave a run-down of the more chaotic aspects of the day with Nick: the run-in with his disruptive old acquaintance, the less-than-successful attempt at surfing, the fun moments in the grotto spoiled by high tide, and having to be rescued after half-freezing. She was a little confused that towards the end Judy shifted from sympathetic to suspicious, but nothing could have prepared her for the rabbit's objection at the tail end when she explained about having caved and told Nick the little secret she'd been holding in.

Judy couldn't help noticing a pattern to the story. '_Nice start, running into an old friend, meeting a jerk…'_

"Okay, what did you do?" she demanded at the end. "Follow us?"

Taelia dropped a forkful of omlette into her lap, staring at her friend with ears laid back in confusion. "What?"

**As I was writing this, one interesting concern was how to portray Shamus in light of his history. I didn't want the fact that he had once tried to kill himself to characterize him, since much of the point in that part of his back story was to show that recovery was possible so long as one was still alive. Besides that, I dare say that any sane person, having harbored and then abandoned such an idea, would like to be better remembered for why they chose to live. At the same time, I think that any decent person – Judy included – would be concerned about someone like that, especially if they still struggled with depression or circumstances like what had brought them near the edge. Alas I was not in a position to readily consult any professional resources on the subject, so I had to go by my best judgment. In any case, it was helpful that Shamus had such a frank and realistic (if sometimes grim) outlook on life and would be able to acknowledge things like that without flinching.**

**I do regret, incidentally, that the story lines paralleled each other so closely, since for purposes of realism it seems that it would have been better to give each relationship its own distinct course of events. Fortunately I have plans for the next one to hopefully play out better in that respect – and in the meantime I was able to get a decent joke out of it.**

**I also indulged in a little self-insertion in this chapter, throwing my personality into the tubing hill operator who sent off Judy and Shamus. I've done the same job myself a couple of times; once at a winter camp where I used the same sending off line he gave them (don't worry. The kids loved it), and once at a now-defunct tubing park where, in all modesty, my high-speed launches were demanded by guests and reprimanded by the higher-ups due to their oomph. Fortunately no one was ever hurt by my launches, or soaked for that matter, though I did have a scramble or two far less dramatic than the one in this chapter. However, I have run into enough fiascos elsewhere with tubing and sledding to pretty well account for most of Judy's and Shamus' misadventures on the hill.**

**Special thanks to Tweiler18 for the use of his Zoosona as the sports complex manager. My thanks also to Alex (which Alex I seem to have forgotten) for the use of his leopard zoosona. I was originally going to have him on the staff of a rental boat company, but when I scrubbed scuba diving from the story I had to rethink, so I went with wildlife photographer.**

**Thanks again, and stay tuned for more!**


End file.
